New Report Shows Employers Struggle With Ill-Prepared Workforce, as White House Highlights...

New Report Shows Employers Struggle With Ill-Prepared Workforce, as White
House Highlights Future of Workforce Skills

WASHINGTON, July 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the Obama administration
shines a light on the training and skills workers will need for the jobs of
tomorrow, a new report shows that U.S. employers continue to struggle with an
ill-prepared workforce, finding new hires lack crucial basic and applied
skills.

For the most part, employer-sponsored readiness training is not successfully
correcting these deficiencies, according to the report, The Ill-Prepared U.S.
Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness
Training, produced by Corporate Voices for Working Families, the American
Society for Training & Development (ASTD), The Conference Board, and the
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

"The results of this study demonstrate how critical it is for companies to be
more strategic and focused on efforts such as providing internships and
working in partnership with community colleges on workforce readiness
initiatives to prepare new entrants before they enter the workplace," says
Donna Klein, Executive Chair, Corporate Voices for Working Families, which
partnered with The Conference Board, the American Society for Training &
Development (ASTD), and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on
the report and its underlying survey of U.S. employers.

"It is a losing strategy for employers to try to fill the workforce readiness
gap on the job. They need to be involved much sooner to prepare new employees
to succeed," Klein said.

The report published today, The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the
Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training, draws from a
survey of 217 employers about their training of newly hired graduates of high
school and two- and four-year colleges. The survey, conducted during 2008,
included employers in manufacturing; financial services; non-financial
services; and education, government, and other non-profits.

Almost half of respondents said they have to provide readiness training for
new hires - and the majority rate their programs as only "moderately" or
"somewhat successful."

"U.S. business is increasingly outspoken about the competitiveness threat
posed by an ill-prepared workforce - but employers must do a better job of
quantifying this threat and communicating it to key stakeholders," says Mary
Wright, Program Director, Workforce Readiness Initiative, The Conference
Board.

"It doesn't make any difference if you're operating a business in Mumbai,
Beijing or New York - the number one challenge facing every organization is
finding and growing skilled talent," said SHRM CEO and President Laurence
O'Neil. "HR professionals are helping bridge the gap, finding ways to give
employees the skills they need to add value and to be more valued. This isn't
just an HR challenge, but a bottom-line global business problem."

"In any economy, having a knowledgeable, skilled workforce is critical for
organizations to grow and be successful," said Tony Bingham, ASTD President
and CEO. "As the skills gap widens among new entrants to the workforce, it's
clear that all stakeholders - employers, education, and the public workforce
system - must collaborate to effectively prepare workers to be successful on
the job."

The report, which includes five case studies of successful workforce readiness
programs run by Bank of America and Year Up, CVS Caremark and TJX Companies,
Harper Industries, Northrop Grumman, and YUM! Brands, finds that:

-- Many companies say new hires lack crucial critical-thinking and
creativity skills - but don't offer related training.
-- Employers' inability to detail their spending on remedial programs
makes it impossible to assess the true costs of an ill-prepared
workforce to their own - or the economy's - bottom line.
-- Employers with successful workforce readiness training incorporate:
-- A culture committed to training and thorough job-readiness
screening.
-- Strategic partnerships with local colleges, and a focus on
integrating training with job-specific skills and career
development.
-- Constant re-evaluation to align training with company needs.
-- Employers should:
-- Track the cost and quality of training programs.

-- Help focus philanthropic dollars and public-policy discussions on
the need to link K-12, technical-school and college education to
the
workforce readiness skills that employers need.

The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided
Workforce Readiness Training is available on the Web sites of each of the
participating organizations: Corporate Voices for Working Families
(www.cvworkingfamilies.org), The American Society for Training and Development
(www.astd.org), The Conference Board (www.conference-board.org), and the
Society for Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org).

About Corporate Voices for Working Families

Corporate Voices for Working Families is the leading national business
membership organization representing the private sector on public and
corporate policy issues involving working families. A nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization, we improve the lives of working families by developing and
advancing innovative policies that reflect collaboration among the private
sector, government and other stakeholders.

To create bipartisan support for issues affecting working families, we
facilitate research in areas spotlighting the intersecting interests of
business, community and families: workforce readiness, family economic
stability and flexibility in the workplace. Collectively our 50 partner
companies, with annual net revenues of more than $1 trillion, employ more than
4 million individuals throughout all 50 states.

www.cvworkingfamilies.org

About ASTD

ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) is the world's largest
association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals.
ASTD's members come from more than 100 countries and connect locally in more
than 130 U.S. chapters and with more than 30 international partners. Members
work in thousands of organizations of all sizes, in government, as independent
consultants, and suppliers. ASTD started in 1943. In recent years, ASTD has
widened the profession's focus to link learning and performance to individual
and organizational results, and is a sought-after voice on critical public
policy issues.

www.astd.org

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is a global, independent business-membership and research
association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide
the world's leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to
improve their performance AND better serve society. The Conference Board is a
non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in
the United States.

www.conference-board.org

About the Society for Human Resource Management

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world's largest
association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than
250,000 members in over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR
professionals and advances the interests of the HR profession. Founded in
1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and
subsidiary offices in China and India.

www.shrm.org

CONTACT:
For Corporate Voices for Working Families
Rob Jewell
Vice President of Communications
rjewell@cvworkingfamilies.org
330-631-9298

For The Conference Board
Frank Tortorici
Director, Public and Media Relations
The Conference Board
(212) 339-0231
f.tortorici@conference-board.org

SOURCE Corporate Voices for Working Families

Rob Jewell, Vice President of Communications of Corporate Voices for Working
Families, +1-330-631-9298, rjewell@cvworkingfamilies.org, or Frank Tortorici,
Director, Public and Media Relations of The Conference Board, +1-212-339-0231,
f.tortorici@conference-board.org