[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                  WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY
                     ACT REAUTHORIZATION: CREATING
                   OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                          HIGHER EDUCATION AND
                          WORKFORCE INVESTMENT

                                 OF THE

                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

              HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MAY 27, 2021

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-16

                               __________

      Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                                   

          Available via: edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov

                               __________


                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
44-800 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
 
                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR

             ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman

RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona            VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut              Ranking Member
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,      JOE WILSON, South Carolina
  Northern Mariana Islands           GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida         TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon             GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
MARK TAKANO, California              ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina        RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK DeSAULNIER, California          JIM BANKS, Indiana
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey          JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York          FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
LUCY McBATH, Georgia                 MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut            BURGESS OWENS, Utah
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan                 BOB GOOD, Virginia
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan           DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico   MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
MONDAIRE JONES, New York             VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina     SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana              MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York, Vice-Chair  MICHELLE STEEL, California
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin                JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas                Vacancy
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland

                   Veronique Pluviose, Staff Director
                  Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director
                                 ------                                

       SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE INVESTMENT

                FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida, Chairwoman

MARK TAKANO, California              GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington            Ranking Member
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico   ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
MONDAIRE JONES, New York             JIM BANKS, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina     JAMES COMER, Kentucky
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York              RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin                MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas                BOB GOOD, Virginia
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey           LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
ARIANO ESPAILLAT, New York           DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona            VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut            JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon             VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia    (ex officio)
  (ex officio)
                            
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Hearing held on May 27, 2021.....................................     1

Statement of Members:
    Wilson, Hon. Frederica S., Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Higher 

      Education and Workforce Investment.........................     1
        Prepared statement of....................................     5
    Foxx, Hon. Virginia, Ranking Member, Committee on Education 
      and Labor..................................................     7
        Prepared statement of....................................     8

Statement of Witnesses:
    Barela, Joe, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Labor 
      and 
      Employment.................................................    10
        Prepared statement of....................................    13
    McGrew, Patrick J., Executive Director, Indiana Governor's 
      Workforce Cabinet..........................................    15
        Prepared statement of....................................    17
    Sigelman, Mathew, CEO, Burning Glass Technologies............    19
        Prepared statement of....................................    21
    Wu, Portia, Managing Director for Public Policy, US 
      Government Affairs, Microsoft Corporation..................    31
        Prepared statement of....................................    34

Additional Submissions:
    Questions submitted for the record by:
        Omar, Hon. Ilhan, a Representative in Congress from the 
          State of Minnesota.....................................    74
    Response to question submitted for the record by:
        Mr. McGrew...............................................    75

 
                        WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND
                    OPPORTUNITY ACT REAUTHORIZATION:
                       CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR
                            YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

                              ----------                              


                         Thursday, May 27, 2021

                  House of Representatives,
                      Subcommittee on Education and
                              Workforce Investment,
                          Committee on Education and Labor,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 12:05 p.m., 
via Zoom, Hon. Frederica S. Wilson (Chairwoman of the 
Subcommittee) presiding.
    Present: Representatives Wilson, Takano, Jayapal, Omar, 
Leger Fernandez, Jones, Manning, Bowman, Pocan, Grijalva, 
Courtney, Bonamici, Scott (ex officio), Grothman, Stefanik, 
Fulcher, Miller-Meeks, Good, Spartz, Letlow, and Foxx (ex 
officio).
    Staff present: Jessica Bowen, Professional Staff; Ilana 
Brunner, General Counsel; Scott Estrada, Professional Staff; 
Rashage Green, Director of Education Policy; Sheila Havenner, 
Director of Information Technology; Eli Hovland, Policy 
Associate; Ariel Jones, Policy Associate; Katie McClelland, 
Professional Staff; Richard Miller, Director of Labor Policy; 
Max Moore, Staff Assistant; Mariah Mowbray, Clerk/Special 
Assistant to the Staff Director; Lorin Obler, GAO Detailee; 
Kayla Pennebecker, Staff Assistant; Veronique Pluviose, Staff 
Director; Banyon Vassar, Deputy Director of Information 
Technology; Claire Viall, Professional Staff; Joshua Weisz, 
Communications Director; Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director; 
Courtney Butcher, Minority Director of Member Services and 
Coalitions; Amy Raaf Jones, Minority Director of Education and 
Human Resources Policy; Hannah Matesic, Minority Director of 
Operations; Jake Middlebrooks, Minority Professional Staff 
Member; Mandy Schaumburg, Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy 
Director of Education Policy; Brad Thomas, Minority Senior 
Education Policy Advisor.
    Chairwoman Wilson. The Subcommittee on Higher Education and 
Workforce Investment will come to order. Welcome everyone. I 
note that a quorum is present. I note for the Subcommittee that 
Mr. Mrvan of Indiana is permitted to participate in today's 
hearing with the understanding that his questions will come 
only after all members of the Subcommittee on Higher Education 
and Workforce Investment on both sides of the aisle who are 
present and had an opportunity to question the witnesses.
    The Subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on 
``Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Reauthorization: 
Creating Employment Pathways for Dislocated Workers''.
    This is an entirely remote hearing. All microphones will be 
kept muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary background 
noise. Members and witnesses will be responsible for unmuting 
themselves when they are recognized to speak, or when they wish 
to seek recognition.
    I also ask that Members please identify themselves before 
they speak, so call out your name before you speak. Members 
should keep their cameras on while in the proceeding. Members 
shall be considered present in the proceedings when they are 
visible on camera, and they shall be considered not present 
when they are not visible on camera.
    The only exception to this is if they are experiencing 
technical difficulty and inform Committee staff of such 
difficulty. If any Member experiences technical difficulties 
during the hearing you should stay connected on the platform, 
make sure that you are muted and use your phone to immediately 
call the Committee's IT director, you have been given that 
number in advance.
    Should the Chair experience technical difficulty or need to 
stop to leave, or step away to vote on the floor Mr. Takano, or 
another majority Member as a Member is hereby authorized to 
assume the gavel in the Chair's absence.
    This is an entirely remote hearing and as such the 
Committee's hearing room is officially closed. Members who 
choose to sit with their individual devices in the hearing room 
must wear headphones to avoid feedback, echoes and distortion 
resulting from more than one person on the software platform 
sitting in the same room.
    Members are also expected to adhere to social distancing 
and safe healthcare guidelines, including the use of masks, 
hand sanitizers and wiping down their areas both before and 
after their presence in the hearing room.
    In order to ensure that the Committee's five-minute rule is 
adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time using the 
Committee's field timer. The field timer will appear on its own 
thumbnail picture and will be named 001_timer. There will be no 
one-minute remaining warning. The field timer will show a 
blinking light when time is up.
    Members and witnesses are asked to wrap up promptly when 
their time has expired. While a roll call is not necessary to 
establish a quorum in official proceedings conducted remotely 
or with remote participation, the Committee has made it a 
practice whenever there is an official proceeding with remote 
participation for the Clerk to call the roll and help make 
clear who is present at the start of the proceeding.
    Members should say their name before announcing they are 
present. This helps the Clerk, and also helps those watching 
the platform and the livestream who may experience a few 
seconds delay.
    At this time I ask the Clerk to please call the roll.
    The Clerk. Chairwoman Wilson?
    Chairwoman Wilson. Congresswoman Wilson is present.
    The Clerk. Mr. Takano?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Ms. Jayapal?
    Ms. Jayapal. Jayapal is present.
    The Clerk. Ms. Omar?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Ms. Leger Fernandez?
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Ms. Leger Fernandez is present.
    The Clerk. Mr. Jones?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Ms. Manning?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mr. Bowman?
    Mr. Bowman. Mr. Bowman is present.
    The Clerk. Mr. Pocan?
    Mr. Pocan. Mr. Pocan is present.
    The Clerk. Mr. Castro?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Ms. Sherill?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mr. Espaillat?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mr. Grijalva?
    Mr. Grijalva. Grijalva present.
    The Clerk. Mr. Courtney?
    Mr. Courtney. Courtney present.
    The Clerk. Ms. Bonamici?
    Ms. Bonamici. Suzanne Bonamici's present.
    The Clerk. Mr. Scott?
    Mr. Scott. Scott's present.
    The Clerk. Ranking Member Murphy?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mr. Grothman?
    Mr. Grothman. Present.
    The Clerk. Ms. Stefanik?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mr. Banks?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mr. Comer?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mr. Fulcher?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Ms. Miller-Meeks?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mr. Good?
    Mr. Good. Good here.
    The Clerk. Mrs. McClain?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mrs. Harshbarger?
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Mrs. Spartz?
    Mrs. Spartz. Spartz is present.
    The Clerk. Ms. Letlow.
    [No response.]
    The Clerk. Ranking Member Foxx?
    Ms. Foxx. Foxx is here.
    The Clerk. Chairwoman Wilson that concludes the roll call.
    Ms. Wilson. Thank you so much.
    Mr. Jones. Madam Chair how is Jones recorded?
    The Clerk. Mr. Jones, I have marked you as present.
    Mr. Jones. Thank you.
    Mr. Takano. Madam Chair how is Takano recorded?
    The Clerk. Mr. Takano you are present as well.
    Mr. Takano. Thank you.
    Chairwoman Wilson. So everyone has been recorded. Thank 
you. Thank you so much. Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(c) opening 
statements are limited to the Chair and the Ranking Member. 
This allows us to hear from our witnesses sooner and provides 
all Members with adequate time to ask questions.
    I now recognize myself now for the purpose of making an 
opening statement. Today we meet for our second bipartisan 
hearing on reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act, or WIOA.
    This hearing will address key priorities to support workers 
who have been forced out of their jobs and to help workers 
avoid future displacement through lifelong learning. WIOA 
supports an array of programs that provide displaced workers 
with the skills and support they need to attain higher paying 
and more rewarding careers.
    These include career services ranging from career planning 
and counseling to supportive services including lead-based 
payments. WIOA also provides workers with access to training 
services, including on the job training which allows workers to 
earn while they train. That is so important and have individual 
training accounts or ITA's which workers can use on approved 
in-State training programs.
    There is no better time to strengthen critical initiatives 
that help displaced workers get back on their feet, 
particularly as millions of workers remain unemployed, or under 
employed due to the pandemic. Worse, too many of the jobs lost 
during the pandemic will not be coming back, yet since well 
before COVID-19, Congress has underfunded workforce development 
programs under WIOA making their services largely unavailable 
to the workers and business they're intended to serve.
    Over the last decade Federal funding for workforce systems 
has decreased by nearly 20 percent adjusted for inflation. 
WIOA's core dislocated worker programs specifically received 
appropriate funding but lower authorized levels by combined 500 
million between fiscal years 2016 and 2020.
    As a nation we have repeated failed to sufficiently invest 
in workforce infrastructure. The United States currently spends 
on about 0.1 percent of its gross domestic product of workforce 
policy, compared to an average of 0.6 percent in other 
developed nations.
    In fact, in the last program year only allowed 30 percent 
of people who interacted with the public workforce system were 
actually able to access training because of the lack of 
funding. This chronic underfunding is a significant barrier to 
preparing workers to remain competitive in the global economy.
    It is also particularly frustrating given WIOA's programs' 
long record of helping employers and displaced workers overcome 
the challenges they currently fact. For example, a 2017 study 
found that individualized career services under WIOA included 
individualized employment plans and counseling, increased 
earnings for worker by up to 20 percent over a 30-month period.
    And in 2019 WIOA's displaced workers program served more 
than 250,000 people with more than 70 percent of those workers 
employed 1 year after they left. However, we should aim higher 
than just adequately funding WIOA to respond to workers 
displacement.
    We must also take proactive steps to prevent workers from 
being displaced in the first place. Today with the help of our 
expert witnesses, we will discuss how we can expand access to 
the lifelong learning and career navigation support that 
workers need in this ever-changing economy.
    These steps include expanding program eligibility to ensure 
more workers can access the full range of benefits and 
supportive services. Currently workers displaced by trade 
receive comprehensive support under the Trade Adjustment 
Assistance Act, but workers displaced for other reasons have 
access to a far more limited range of services under WIOA.
    We can also expand other career services and better track 
and demand skills and competencies for workers to upgrade their 
skills. This will enable more workers to rejoin or stay 
connected to the workforce at a time when businesses need 
talented employees.
    The importance of this effort to strength the WIOA is best 
understood through the real-life success stories. Let me give 
you one. Take for instance Wendy, an Idaho resident who was 
laid off from her job as a sales representative when she earned 
$21.00 an hour and benefits.
    After several unsuccessful interviews she had a temporary 
part-time and on-call retail position at Walmart paying $9.00 
an hour with no benefits. Here was Wendy, an unemployed worker 
over the age of 50 was feeling discouraged and doubtful that 
she could compete in the modern economy.
    With support from WIOA funded programs, she enrolled in a 
training program that helped actually turn her life around. 
After completing the program she was hired for an upper 
management job with Walmart's home office while making $25.00 
an hour with benefits.
    This success story can be replicated for millions of 
workers if we simply commit to funding and strengthening WIOA. 
Today we will discuss how we can help displaced workers forge a 
pathway forward while also preparing them with the lifelong 
education and training to navigate our changing economy.
    [The prepared statement of Chairwoman Wilson follows:]

  Statement of Hon. Frederica S. Wilson, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on 
               Higher Education and Workforce Investment

    Today, we meet for our second bipartisan hearing on reauthorizing 
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, or WIOA. This hearing 
will address key priorities to support workers who have been forced out 
of their jobs and to help workers avoid future displacement through 
lifelong learning.
    WIOA supports an array of programs that provide displaced workers 
with the skills and support they need to attain higher-paying and more 
rewarding careers.
    These include career services--ranging from career planning and 
counseling to supportive services and needs-based payments. WIOA also 
provides workers with access to training services--that is support so 
important--including on-the-job training, which allows workers to earn 
while they train and have individual training accounts, or I-T-As, 
which workers can use on approved, in-State training programs.
    There is no better time to strengthen critical initiatives that 
help displaced workers get back on their feet, particularly as millions 
of workers remain unemployed or underemployed due to the pandemic. 
What's worse--too many of the jobs lost during the pandemic will not be 
coming back.
    Yet, since well before COVID-19, Congress has underfunded workforce 
development programs under WIOA, making their services largely 
unavailable to the workers and businesses they are intended to serve. 
Over the last decade, Federal funding for workforce systems has 
decreased by nearly 20 percent--adjusted for inflation. WIOA's core 
dislocated worker programs, specifically, received appropriated funding 
below authorized levels by a combined $500 million between fiscal years 
2016 and 2020.
    As a Nation, we have repeatedly failed to sufficiently invest in 
workforce infrastructure. The United States currently spends only about 
0.1 percent of its gross domestic product on workforce policy, compared 
to an average of 0.6 percent in other developed nations.
    In fact, in the last program year, only around 30 percent of people 
who interacted with the public workforce system were actually able to 
access training because of the lack of funding.
    This chronic underfunding is a significant barrier to preparing 
workers to remain competitive in the global economy. It is also 
particularly frustrating given WIOA programs' long record of helping 
employers and displaced workers overcome the challenges they currently 
face.
    For example, a 2017 study found that individualized career services 
under WIOA, including individualized employment plans and counseling, 
increased earnings for workers by up to 20 percent over a 30-month 
period.
    And, in 2019, WIOA's Displaced Worker programs served more than 
250,000 people--with more than 70 percent of those workers employed 1 
year after they left.
    However, we should aim higher than just adequately funding WIOA to 
respond to workers' displacement. We must also take proactive steps to 
prevent workers from being displaced in the first place.
    Today, with the help of our expert witnesses, we will discuss how 
we can expand access to the lifelong learning and career navigation 
support that workers need in this ever-changing economy.
    These steps include expanding program eligibility to ensure more 
workers can access the full range of benefits and supportive services. 
Currently, workers displaced by trade receive comprehensive support 
under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act, but workers displaced for 
other reasons have access to a far more limited range of services under 
WIOA.
    We can also expand other career services and better track in-demand 
skills and competencies for workers to upgrade their skills. This will 
enable more workers to rejoin or stay connected to the workforce at a 
time when businesses need talented employees.
    The importance of this effort to strengthen WIOA is best understood 
through real-life success stories. Take--for instance--Wendie, an Idaho 
resident who was laid off from her job as a sales representative where 
she earned $21.00 an hour and benefits.
    After several unsuccessful interviews, she had a temporary, part-
time, and on-call retail position at Walmart paying $9.00 an hour, with 
no benefits.
    Here was Wendie, an unemployed worker over the age of 50, who was 
feeling discouraged and doubtful that she could compete in the modern 
economy. With support from WIOA-funded programs, she enrolled in a 
training program that helped actually turn her life around.
    After completing the program, she was hired for an upper management 
job with Walmart's home office, making $25.00 an hour with benefits. 
This success story can be replicated for millions of workers if we 
simply commit to funding and strengthening WIOA.
    Today, we will discuss how we can help displaced workers forge a 
pathway forward while also preparing them with the lifelong education 
and training to navigate our changing economy.
                                 ______
                                 
    I now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member of the 
full Committee on Education and Labor, Dr. Foxx for the purpose 
of making an opening statement. Dr. Foxx.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Chairwoman Wilson. I appreciate that. 
The skills gap is a growing concern for all sectors of the 
American economy, and it impacts businesses and workers alike. 
In February of this year McKinsey study estimated that 45 
million Americans, that's a quarter of our workforce, will lose 
their jobs due to automation by the year 2030. Perhaps more 
concerning is the study's second conclusion, that only 17 
percent of those employees are likely to find new work, leaving 
an estimated and unprecedented 39 million Americans jobless.
    And the pandemic threatens is to exacerbate this troubling 
trend. We know that during economic recessions companies turn 
to machines and automation as an alternative to human labor. 
However, even with increased automation, businesses across the 
country still have open jobs, but are hampered by a lack of 
skilled workers.
    This is not an abstract concern. Even before COVID-19 7 
million jobs were unfilled due to the skills gap. Wayne Gretzky 
was the greatest hockey player ever and he once observed he 
never wanted to skate to where the puck was, but where it was 
going to be. The same is true in workforce development.
    If our workforce system focuses on today's jobs only, then 
we won't be equipped for the economy of the future which is why 
we're here today, to learn from folks on the ground what is 
working, what isn't. How can we get out of your way to expand 
upon the innovation that business is already leading?
    By battling this problem now we can remove bureaucratic 
barriers to help millions find employment opportunities today, 
and nearly a quarter of Americans avoid dislocation and 
unemployment in the future. I listened to the Chairwoman when 
she was talking about having a 70 percent placement rate in 
some of the workforce development programs that currently 
exist, and people working in those jobs a year later.
    She's a former educator, and I know she would agree with me 
70 percent is not a passing grade, and we can do better. If we 
have only 70 percent of the people in jobs 1 year after they go 
through a program that we've spent billions of dollars on, 
something's not working right, and we need to work on that.
    And perhaps it is looking toward where that puck is going 
to be, not where it currently is. As we consider 
reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act, and incidentally, for those of you who weren't around, 
when we passed that bill and President Obama signed it, when we 
passed it out of the House it was called the Skills Act.
    I think we were very pressured in calling the bill the 
Skills Act then, but when it passed the House that's what it 
was called, and the Senate insisted on changing the title to 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act which is a mouthful. 
We should have called it the Skills Act, but we ceded to their 
wanting to change it because we wanted to get the bill passed.
    But as we consider the re-authorization, our primary goal 
and focus should be creating additional pathways for workers to 
reskill and upskill to meet the demands of our evolving 21st 
Century economy.
    I am very encouraged by the Democrats' commitment to 
examine this reauthorization thoroughly, and I'm hopeful we 
will come to a solution that works not just for politicians, 
but for the people who have everything to gain from these vital 
job savings efforts.
    And the word I think coming back to when discussing WIOA 
programs is in the hearing title: pathways. Congress creates 
pathways when we remove unnecessary barriers and offer services 
that help workers build skills that lead to lasting successful 
employment and self-sufficiency.
    Most importantly, these pathways must be responsive to the 
need of business industry. A workforce system that does not 
provide workers with in-demand skills for the region is a poor 
use of taxpayer dollars and can handicap our Nation's economic 
growth and global competitiveness for years to come.
    We must ensure that any Federal initiative embrace 
technological advances and economic innovation so that our 
workforce development programs can meet regional economic 
development needs. This will require the power of the free 
market to create an economy better than anything government can 
mandate into existence.
    I think we have a great panel of witnesses, and I want to 
thank them for joining us today for a productive discussion 
about how to reauthorize WIOA to ensure that 21st Century 
workers are prepared to meet 21st Century challenges, and with 
that Madam Chair, I yield back.
    [The prepared statement of Ranking Member Foxx follows:]

Statement of Hon. Virginia Foxx, Ranking Member, Committee on Education 
                               and Labor

    The skills gap is a growing concern for all sectors of the American 
economy and it impacts businesses and workers alike. In February of 
this year, a McKinsey study estimated that 45 million Americans--that's 
a quarter of our workforce--will lose their jobs due to automation by 
the year 2030.
    Perhaps more concerning is the study's second conclusion; only 14 
percent of those employees are likely to find new work, leaving an 
estimated and unprecedented 39 million Americans jobless.
    And the pandemic threatens to exacerbate this troubling trend. We 
know that during economic recessions companies turn to machines and 
automation as an alternative to human labor. However, even with 
increased automation, businesses across the country still have open 
jobs but are hampered by a lack of skilled workers. This is not an 
abstract concern; even before COVID-19, seven million jobs were 
unfilled due to the skills gap.
    Wayne Gretzky was the greatest hockey player ever, and he once 
observed he never wanted to skate to where the puck was but where it 
was going to be. The same is true in workforce development. If our 
workforce system focuses on today's jobs only then we won't be equipped 
for the economy of the future.
    Which is why we are here today--to learn from folks on the ground. 
What is working? What isn't? How can we get out of your way to expand 
upon the innovation that business is already leading?
    By battling this problem now, we can remove bureaucratic barriers 
to help millions find employment opportunities today and nearly a 
quarter of Americans avoid dislocation and unemployment in the future.
    As we consider a reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act, our primary goal and focus should be creating 
additional pathways for workers to reskill and upskill to meet the 
demands of our evolving 21st century economy.
    I am encouraged by the Democrats' commitment to examine this 
reauthorization thoroughly and am hopeful we will come to a solution 
that works not just for politicians, but for the people who have 
everything to gain from these vital, jobs-saving efforts.
    The word I keep coming back to when discussing WIOA programs is in 
the hearing title: pathways. Congress creates pathways when we remove 
unnecessary barriers and offer services that help workers build skills 
that lead to lasting, successful employment and self-sufficiency.
    Most importantly, these pathways must be responsive to the needs of 
business and industry. A workforce system that does not provide workers 
with in-demand skills for the region is a poor use of taxpayer dollars 
and could handicap our Nation's economic growth and global 
competitiveness for years to come.
    We must ensure that any Federal initiatives embrace technological 
advances and economic innovation so that our workforce development 
programs can meet regional economic development needs. This will 
require the power of the free market to create an economy better than 
anything government can mandate into existence.
    I thank the witnesses for joining us today for a productive 
discussion about how to reauthorize WIOA to ensure that 21st century 
workers are prepared to meet 21st century challenges.
                                 ______
                                 
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. All other Members who wish to 
insert written statements into the record may do so by 
submitting them to the Committee Clerk electronically in 
Microsoft Word format by 5 p.m. on June 10.
    I will now introduce the witnesses. Mr. Joe Barela is the 
Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and 
Employment. Previously Mr. Barela served as the U.S. Department 
of Labor as a Senior Advisor where he helped coordinate the 
implementation of the WIOA at State and local levels. Welcome 
to our panel today. We're so happy to have you.
    Mr. PJ McGrew is Executive director of the Indiana 
Governor's Workforce Cabinet which serves as the state's 
workforce board. As Executive Director Mr. McGrew tries to find 
solutions to workforce issues paramount to Indiana's long-term 
economic viability and the economic mobility of its citizens. 
Thank you for being with us today Mr. McGrew.
    Mr. Sigelman is the CEO of Burning Class Technologies, a 
leading labor market analytics company that carries out big 
data analysis of job posting and career businesses. I now wish 
to recognize one of our distinguished Committee Members from 
Washington, Ms. Jayapal, a leader in the Nation, a leader in 
our Congress, and we are so proud of her as she Chairs a 
congressional Progressive Caucus.
    She is going to introduce our final witness, Ms. Jayapal 
let us hear from you.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you so much Madam Chair for that 
beautiful introduction of me, but also for allowing me to 
recognize one of our witnesses and thank you for your 
tremendous leadership of this Committee.
    One of our witnesses is Portia Wu, she is currently the 
Managing Director of the U.S. Public Policy for Microsoft. She 
is focused on issues regarding workforce skills and 
immigration, and of course Microsoft is a powerful force across 
the country and headquartered right here in the Seattle area.
    Ms. Wu previously served in the Obama administration, first 
as Special Assistant to the President for Labor and Workforce 
Policy, before becoming Assistant Secretary of the Employment 
and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor. In 
that role she oversaw billions of dollars in Federal workforce 
and training investments.
    She also worked for Senator Edward Kennedy as Labor Policy 
Director, and General Counsel as well as serving as the Vice 
President of Work and Family Issues at the National Partnership 
of Women and Families, and as an attorney at Bredhoff and 
Kaiser where she represented workers, unions, and pension fund 
trustees.
    As we celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, it is a pleasure to 
see you here Ms. Wu and to hear the powerful voice that we know 
you will bring. Thank you and I look forward to your testimony.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much. Thank you. We 
appreciate the witnesses for participating today and we look 
forward to your testimony. Let me remind the witnesses that we 
have read your written statements, and they will appear in full 
in the hearing record pursuant to Committee Rule 8(d) and 
Committee practice, each of you is asked to limit your oral 
presentation to a 5-minute summary of your written statement.
    Before you begin your testimony, please remember to unmute 
your microphone. During your testimony staff will be keeping 
track of time, and a light will blink that time is up. Please 
be attentive to the time and wrap up when your time is over, so 
I won't have to tell you to wrap up. Then after you wrap up you 
re-mute your microphone.
    If any of you experience technical difficulties during your 
testimony, or later in the hearing, you should stay connected 
on the platform, but make sure you are muted, and use your 
phone to immediately call the Committee's IT director and that 
number was provided to you.
    We will let all of the witnesses make their presentations 
before we move to the Member questions. When answering a 
question please remember to unmute your microphone. The 
witnesses are aware of their responsibility to provide accurate 
information to the Subcommittee, and therefore we will proceed 
with their testimony.
    I now will recognize Mr. Barela for his five minutes. Mr. 
Barela?

  STATEMENT OF JOSEPH M. BARELA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COLORADO 
               DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

    Mr. Barela. Thank you, Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Dr. 
Foxx, and Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the 
opportunity to appear before you today. As this Subcommittee 
considers the reauthorization of WIOA, I am honored to share 
Colorado's approaches to serving dislocated workers and 
supporting lifelong learning, reskilling, upskilling, and next 
skilling of the workforce, and to provide recommendations to 
ensure that all workers, learners, and employers are future 
ready.
    The Colorado Workforce Development eco-system responded to 
COVID-19 with agility, shifting to remote work and virtual 
service delivery, so we could serve thousands of Coloradans, 
hundreds of thousands of Coloradans. Now as we look to recover 
from the pandemic, in preparation for the future of work, we 
have the opportunity to create a proactive workforce system 
that builds lifelong learners, a skilled workforce, and 
connects people with economic success.
    Our workforce system must be able to act proactively to 
support workers and communities. In Colorado our just 
transition office is using State funds and existing WIOA 
resources to support call workers, employers, and communities 
as they plan for the future closings of coal plants, upon which 
their communities depend.
    We know that the transition from coal and the COVID-19 
pandemic are just a few of many disruptions our communities 
will face as technology advances and work evolves. WIOA 
eligibility that allows us to support workers before they are 
laid off will mitigate the economic impact of these 
transitions, and it will help us keep communities together.
    To be successful, our workforce system must also be funded 
based on more recent data and have the agility to pivot in 
order to be responsive in a timely manner. Colorado has a 
dynamic economy, and a funding formula based on 2-year lags and 
data prevents our system from providing adequate services when 
it is most needed in the community.
    Our workforce system must support lifelong learning and 
facilitate upskilling, reskilling, and next skilling throughout 
an individual's work lifecycle. Increased investments in work-
based learning, especially earn and learn models, like 
apprenticeships, are critical to this effort.
    Work based learning combines skill development with 
training opportunities and is a key strategy in Colorado for 
developing talent and preparing Coloradans for the workforce 
and evolving labor market. So many underemployed and dislocated 
workers do not have the ability to stop working, earning a 
wage, and attending education training that is separate from 
workplace.
    CDLE partners with local workforce systems, the U.S. 
Department of Labor, and partner organizations like Career Wise 
to help implement a high-quality apprentice system with more 
than 6,000 apprenticeships, and more than 400 registered 
apprenticeship programs.
    These programs work and their reach needs to be expanded to 
youth, underemployed, mid-career professionals and dislocated 
workers. When Brandon, a general manager at Old Chicago 
Restaurant was laid off due to COVID, he decided to make a 
career change. With support from his local workforce center he 
became an apprentice with a local electrician, and he had costs 
covered for his supplies from the dislocated worker program.
    The first year of related instructions were covered as 
well. He is on track with an industry that is growing and has 
the potential to reach more than minimum wage, a livable wage 
in a community he chooses to live in here in Colorado.
    Our workforce system must partner with business and 
industry. Sector, partnerships are partnerships of business 
leaders from the same industry and in shared regions who work 
with education, workforce development, economic development, 
and community organizations to address the talent and 
competitiveness needs of their industry.
    More than 1,600 businesses are actively involved in 30 
sector partnerships across Colorado. These sector partnerships 
inform competency-based career paths that ensure education, 
training and workforce systems stay attuned and responsive to 
the needs of the labor market in order to ensure businesses 
have the access to appropriately skilled talent pipelines and 
prepare students and workers with the skills and credentials 
they need for jobs and careers.
    The model for partnership works in all corners of the 
State, and with any type of industry. During the past year 
sector partnerships have developed and engaged training 
strategies to support both incumbent workers and new workers in 
the field. Our workforce system must provide for workers to 
reskill, upskill, and connect with quality career paths.
    This requires effective career coaching, with a partnership 
and support from the Markle Foundation, Skillful, and the 
Rework American Alliance, Colorado invests in professional 
development and support for frontline career development 
professionals, so they apply skills-based practices, labor 
market insights, and high-quality coaching practices to connect 
underemployed, mid-career professionals and dislocated workers 
to opportunities.
    I encourage you to consider increased investments in career 
coaching within the workforce system, so people have access to 
this valuable resource throughout their careers. In Colorado we 
know that with strategic career navigation job seekers using 
workforce system earn about $12,700.00 more in annualized wages 
than those who find work on their own.
    This truly is the value add of the public workforce system. 
Access to well-trained coaches, availability of, and access to 
career connected learning, to reskill, upskill and next skill 
and labor market aligned with job placement retention. Let me 
close by saying again how proud I am of Colorado's workforce 
system which promotes a driving employment environment with 
opportunity for every Coloradan to prosper.
    I hope my remarks have been helpful as you work to 
reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and 
ensure all Americans have the ability to find a career and 
economic success in the future of work. I'm happy to answer any 
questions from the Subcommittee. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Barela follows:]

                    Prepared Statement of Joe Barela
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Wilson. We will now hear from Mr. McGrew.

STATEMENT OF PJ McGREW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INDIANA GOVERNOR'S 
                       WORKFORCE CABINET

    Mr. McGrew. Thank you, Chair Wilson, and Ranking Member 
Foxx. Good afternoon Subcommittee Members. My name is PJ McGrew 
and I serve as the Executive Director for Indiana Governor Eric 
J. Holcomb's Workforce Cabinet. I'm pleased to be able to 
provide and speak to you today about the unique and successful 
program he has implemented in Indiana to address critical 
workforce shortages, providing Hoosiers with the skills they 
need for greater economic mobility.
    The Governor's Workforce Cabinet serves as the state's 
workforce board as outlined in the Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act however, we serve as much more than a typical 
workforce board.
    In 2018 at the direction of Governor Holcomb we were tasked 
to rethink how our workforce system operated. We worked with 
the State legislature to separate and elevate our workforce 
board from within the Department of Workforce Development, 
restructure our membership, and added additional 
responsibilities that would allow us to begin to break down the 
silos that exist between State and Federal programs.
    The restructuring of our workforce board necessitated a 
waiver from the U.S. Department of Labor. Our cabinet is still 
comprised of a majority of employer partners however, our Chair 
is from within State government, and that helps us coordinate 
day to day operations across State agencies.
    The Governor's Workforce Cabinet is able to coordinate 
activity across the Department of Workforce Development and the 
Commission for Higher Education on the state's signature state-
funded workforce program NextLevel Jobs.
    NextLevel Jobs was created in partnership with the Governor 
and the Indiana general assembly in 2017 and includes two 
different funding streams: The Workforce Ready Grant, and the 
Employer Training Grant.
    Our Workforce Ready Grant program is targeted to 
individuals and includes free training for up to a 1-year 
certificate, and several post-secondary institutions as well as 
qualified providers on our eligible training provider list 
maintained through WIOA.
    Each program must be in one of five targeted sectors that 
are vital to the state's economic growth, advanced 
manufacturing, building and construction trades, business and 
IT, health and life science and transportation and logistics. 
The training must also meet a threshold for wages and 
occupational planning.
    In just 3 years of operation we have had over 44,000 
individuals enroll in training, 22,000 individuals complete, 
and we are seeing median wage gains of $6,800.00 1-year post 
program completion.
    Last year under the leadership of Governor Holcomb and the 
new cabinet, Indiana submitted its first combined WIOA plan, A 
Better Future for Every Hoosier. In the plan we prioritized 
integration across State and Federal programs, and we are now 
leveraging our local workforce boards to help implement our 
NextLevel Job's programs.
    This type of collaboration would not be possible without 
restructuring and redesigning the role of the State workforce 
board to be more intentionally focused on other parts of the 
talent development system other than WIOA. A key focus of our 
State plan also includes better employer engagement, and the 
other critical component of our NextLevel Jobs program includes 
an investment in employer-led training through our Employer 
Training Grant program.
    Employers can work with a business service representative 
from their local workforce board, or directly with the 
Department of Workforce Development to access the grant. 
Employers fill out a brief training plan and once the training 
is complete and we have verified wage gains and employment 
retention, the employer is eligible for up to a $50,000.00 
reimbursement to help cover the costs of training.
    Over the past 3 years over 2,900 employers have 
participated in the program. We've trained 26,500 individuals, 
and we're seeing average wage gains of $5,900.00 per year post-
training. Access to training is only one variable in the 
equation to help provide Hoosiers an opportunity to gain 
quality employment. Career coaching and working with employers 
to identify their needs are reasons that we have been proud to 
partner with the Markle Foundation in Skillful, Indiana the 
past 3 years.
    In partnership with Skillful, we have launched the 
Governor's coaching corps. This annual cohort of career coaches 
was established to provide comprehensive training to career 
coaches from across the talent development system. During the 
pandemic we were able to work with Skillful to quickly 
transition they're in-person training to online modules that 
were piloted within our community college system and are now 
being scaled beyond.
    Skillful has also been working with our local boards and 
employers across the State to take a deeper look at the skills 
necessary for open positions throughout Indiana. This has 
resulted in more employers transitioning to skills-based hiring 
practices.
    We're extremely proud of the progress we've made in Indiana 
to address critical workforce shortages and believe the work we 
have done can help serve as a model to how State and Federal 
programs can work together to serve clients throughout the 
system.
    With targeted investments and training programs, we could 
help equip more Americans with the training necessary to 
connect occupations that provide greater economic mobility, and 
employers the talent they need. Thank you for the opportunity 
to provide Committee Members an overview of our work, and as 
the conversation to reauthorize this important Federal 
legislation continue, we stand ready to help serve you all. 
Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. McGrew follows:]

                Prepared Statement of Patrick J. McGrew
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Mr. McGrew. Next, we'll hear 
from Mr. Sigelman.

          STATEMENT OF MATT SIGELMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE 
             OFFICER, BURNING GLASS TECHNOLOGIES, 
                     BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

    Mr. Sigelman. Good afternoon, Chairwoman Wilson, Ranking 
Member Foxx, distinguished Members of the Committee, and thank 
you for the opportunity to testify today about this important 
issue. My name is Matthew Sigelman, I'm the CEO of Burning 
Glass Technologies, a leading labor markets analytics company.
    Our big data analysis of job postings and of career 
histories gives us a unique perspective on what employers want, 
what workers need, and what kind of workforce system the 
country should pursue as Congress considers reauthorization of 
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
    The challenge facing the American work is unprecedented. 
The short-term disruption of the pandemic combines with a 
longer-term trend of profound change, and even disruption in 
skills. Across the economy 30 percent of the skills required in 
the average occupation today are different from those needed 
just a decade ago.
    In fact the velocity of skill change is outpacing the 
ability of traditional labor market information sources even to 
track it. In addition there is a growing disjoint between the 
skills of America's workforce, and the skills sought by 
employers. The problem is particularly acute in underserved 
communities where the opportunity gulf has existed for decades.
    A study by Policy Link in University of Southern California 
using data from Burning Glass estimated there were 2.3 trillion 
dollars in unrealized economic opportunity in 2018 alone 
because of the inequity in the workforce. This supply/demand 
mismatch will serve as a potent drag on our national economy, a 
driver of inequality, and a threat to America's ability to be 
globally competitive.
    Fortunately, there are opportunities to reframe the model 
of workforce development. These new skill adjacency 
methodologies such as that developed by Burning Glass for the 
World Economic Forum build on the skills workers already heavy 
to identify the shortest, most efficient reskilling paths.
    For instance, a laid-off administrative assistant making on 
average about $36,000.00 a year can share many skills with a 
production planner. Now that's a role with a strong future, an 
average salary of $49,000.00 a year as opposed to $36,000.00 
and direct path onward to clear as a logistician earning 
$78,000.00 a year.
    So by targeting the specific skills required to follow this 
pathway such as building inventory management skills, the 
workforce system can place people more quickly, less 
expensively, and with greater long-term success. From this 
perspective we need a workforce system that brings us closer to 
three great objectives. First, we need a system that can better 
support the displaced.
    Now this is the primary mission of the workforce system as 
it exists today, yet the massive dislocation caused by the 
pandemic underscores how ill-prepared we are. To meet this 
challenge the workforce system must go beyond focusing on 
referring people to jobs.
    Instead the workforce system will need to train people for 
the specific skill gaps that will enable their transition. It 
will need to assess eligible training provider list, EDPL 
programs rigorously against metrics of demand to ensure that 
funds are spent on programs that lead to good opportunities, 
and not to dead ends.
    It will need to leverage modern skill-based methods for 
identifying a wider set of relevant job openings for each 
worker, and our workforce system will need to empower workers 
themselves with the information they need to navigate the 
opportunity.
    Second, we need a system that can provide critical skill 
development resources for all American workers, not just for 
those who have been displaced, or who are at risk. We often 
hear of jobs being created and destroyed by technology, but the 
more significant impact is in how fast existing jobs are being 
reprogramed.
    The rapid pace of skill change will demand that many 
workers gain skills just to keep the jobs they have. The need 
for lifelong learning has been evident for some time, but it is 
also evident that our workforce and educational systems are not 
equipped currently to support it.
    This will require that workforce funding be restructured to 
provide for ongoing learning over time even after a worker has 
been successfully placed. And third, we need a system that can 
be a better partner to industry. Today's system is focused on 
how to place unemployed workers in jobs, but we need to go 
beyond that and shift more of our focus to opportunity.
    What are the opportunities for those workers, and what are 
the skills employers demand to unlock those careers? That will 
require a workforce system with new information sources aligned 
not only with what employers are looking for today, but also 
the strategic trends that will shape what industry needs 
tomorrow.
    Skills are increasingly becoming the currency of the job 
market. We all can play a vital role in assisting American 
workers to thrive in this new landscape. Once again thank you 
for inviting me to testify. I look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Sigelman follows.]

                 Prepared Statement of Mathew Sigelman
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Chairwoman Wilson. We will now hear from Mr. Wu, Ms. Wu I'm 
sorry.

        STATEMENT OF PORTIA WU, MANAGING DIRECTOR, U.S. 
             PUBLIC POLICY, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, 
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

    Ms. Wu. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to Full Committee 
Chair Scott and Ranking Member Foxx, and I also want to thank 
Congresswoman Jayapal for that kind introduction. Members of 
the Subcommittee thank you for inviting me to testify today. My 
name is Portia Wu, and I'm here on behalf of Microsoft and our 
subsidiary LinkedIn to share our views, as leading technology 
providers who care deeply about our workforce system.
    As Mr. Sigelman said, our economy, labor markets and 
workplaces have changed in fundamental ways since 2014 when 
WIOA was enacted, and these changes have been accelerated by 
the COVID-19 pandemic. If we want to have a more resilient and 
equitable economy, our workforce system needs to change too.
    Change should include bold and innovative investments. That 
means not just investing more, although we believe that is 
critical, it also means investing smarter. Federal funds should 
provide more support for skills training that is relevant to 
employers and leads to good jobs.
    We also need to leverage private sector innovations and 
technology so we can maximum the use of resources. This is not 
something government can achieve alone, employers, education, 
and training providers, non-profits, libraries and other 
stakeholders all have a role to play. I'd like to touch quickly 
on four key recommendations.
    First, workforce systems must support people to gain 
technology skills over a lifetime. Technology skills have 
become a core requirement of every industry. I'm guessing every 
single person in this virtual room learned to use new digital 
skills or tools during this pandemic. That's because work is 
where most people learn new skills.
    But people who are out of work, or in jobs that don't 
provide these opportunities are getting left behind. By some 
estimates roughly one-third of the U.S. workforce lacks the 
digital skills that are essential in today's economy, and that 
number is over 50 percent for black and Latino workers.
    Private sector has a role to play here, and I'm happy to 
talk about some of our partnerships that we are supporting to 
advance digital skills, but truly addressing these inequities 
will require strong, deliberate collaboration across 
government.
    The workforce programs that means WIOA should dedicate 
funds for digital skills, assessments, and training. And as 
part of State plans, Governors should address digital skill 
needs for all individuals, particularly those in underserved 
communities.
    Second, we need to make better use of low-cost widely 
available resources. Now last year the world of online learning 
has exploded. LinkedIn learning saw an 80 percent increase in 
online learning, with over one million hours of content being 
accessed worldwide every single year.
    The workforce system could do more to leverage free, or 
low-cost online training courses. For example, many states 
require that eligible training providers have a physical in-
State presence, which could discourage online training.
    States should update ETPL's and use other options to ensure 
cutting edge tools are available to assist job seekers and 
employers. Third, we should provide incentives for employers to 
upskill. The Workforce system as we have discussed is also 
charged with supporting employers.
    During the pandemic, El Paso-based Workforce Solutions 
Borderplex partnered with Microsoft and city, county, and State 
government to launch a program to help entrepreneurs and small 
business owners grow their businesses with technology.
    That involved helping businesses to get online and provide 
digital literacy training for employers and employees. More 
than 200 business have already participated, and the program 
continues to help more business and their workers to adapt and 
grow.
    We encourage the Subcommittee to consider how WIOA can 
support innovative partnerships like these. It should also 
consider expanding flexibility and the amount of funds that can 
be used for incumbent worker training and encourage the use of 
these funds for acquisition of digital skills. Finally, we 
should make better use of private sector data and tools to 
connect workers to jobs and opportunities to learn in demand 
skills.
    While it is important to assess what skills individuals 
still need to learn, we also need to find better ways to assess 
the skills and experience they already have. Job platforms can 
see information across millions of employers and jobs, and we 
need to use those insights to help make better connections.
    For example, we know that one-third of food service workers 
could not go to work during the pandemic, and many of them are 
permanently out of a job. But food service workers typically 
have 70 percent of the skills for customer service jobs which 
are in high demand.
    Employers and workers need to know of these possible skills 
matches to take advantage of them. WIOA should encourage and 
leverage skills and job matching to open up a more equitable 
and efficient labor market.
    These are just some of the ways in which we believe our 
workforce system can be improved to meet the challenges of 
today and to better serve both workers and tomorrow's as we 
face the opportunities of the future. Thank you for your 
attention and I look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Wu follows.]

                    Prepared Statement of Portia Wu
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much. And now 
under Committee Rule 9(a) we will now question our witnesses 
under the five-minute rule. I will be recognizing our 
Subcommittee Members in seniority order, again to ensure that 
the Members' five-minute rule is adhered to, staff will be 
keeping track of time.
    And the timer will show a blinking light when time has 
expired. Please be attentive to the time. Wrap up when your 
time is over, and re-mute your microphone.
    As Chair I now recognize myself for five minutes. Ms. Wu in 
your testimony you highlight Microsoft company skills program 
which supports black, local workforce development 
organizations, including the Opa-Locka Development Corporation 
which operates in my district, I'm well aware of it. How can 
our workforce system best target investments in under resourced 
communities and engage employers to address the persistent 
skills gap among workers of color?
    Ms. Wu. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think it's very important 
to recognize that who sits at the table influences how 
workforce funds are distributed and focused, and so it's very 
important that we have a diverse set of organizations like Opa-
Locka Community Development Corporation to be there to 
contribute and to partner with the workforce system.
    So the Federal Government can encourage that certainly, but 
those are decisions that also need to be made at the State and 
local level to have a diversity of voices at the table, and 
certainly for employers, employers want to have diverse talent. 
They also want to make sure that their needs are being met, and 
so thinking about how the workforce system can better serve 
small and medium business in particular as they seek to survive 
and evolve in this pandemic.
    I think that provides a value add to employers so they will 
be eager to participate and work more closely with the 
workforce system.
    Chairwoman Wilson. All right thank you so much. This is for 
Mr. Barela. Should we consider extending individuals access to 
supported services while they are working after training 
program completion and placement employment, and how would 
lower income individuals with barriers to employment benefit 
from such an extension.
    Mr. Barela. Thank you, Mrs. Chair, for a great question. 
And you know I think you mentioned in your opening address that 
it's not only the placement, but the retention in these 
occupations or jobs and career advancement, and so support 
services when people go to work are so critical so that they 
can be successful to access the tools, maybe additional 
training, so that they could see advancement in that initial 
career placement. But I do think the Workforce Innovation 
Opportunity Act needs to allow us to provide support services 
beyond just a short period of time. It's important for people 
to stay at work 6 months, 1 year and beyond.
    And so the ability to offer support services, and then 
again look at what are the resources available, not only in the 
public workforce system, but through community-based 
organizations, and other funds to allow those support services 
to be available, particularly for what we just saw in the 
pandemic. Those occupations who weren't able to work from home 
to access childcare, to access transportation, those are all 
costs that only are increased when someone is able to go to 
work.
    So definitely the opportunity and the availability of 
support service is critical to not only retention but career 
advancement.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Ms. Wu, in your current capacity as 
Managing Director for public policy, and as a former Assistant 
Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration at the 
Department of Labor, can you speak to the importance of fully 
funding WIOA adult programs which supports incumbent worker 
training?
    Ms. Wu. Absolutely. As has been referenced earlier, the 
workforce system has been underfunded for quite some time, and 
this has never been a more dire situation because frankly we 
have millions more Americans who need this help and need these 
supports. We know workforce system supports work, supportive 
services work, and also helping people find jobs is more 
critical than ever.
    So we believe absolutely there is more funding and more 
support that's needed. The private sector needs to do its part 
too, but we all need to work together to support this system 
and get more people the skills for the jobs of tomorrow.
    Chairwoman Wilson. All right. Mr. Barela due to funding 
shortfalls only about 30 percent of individuals who interact 
with the workforce are able to access training. How do 
individual training accounts function? And should Congress 
expand funding in these ITA's?
    Mr. Barela. Madam Chair great question. In Colorado, and I 
believe as you referenced before, only 30 percent are accessing 
training. In the last program you reported on about 77,000 
individuals received services through the public workforce 
system.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Should they be funded under Pell Grants? 
Should the funding levels be provided as high as Pell Grants 
which is currently $6,500.00?
    Mr. Barela. Definitely. And I think it should be 
encouraged. A lot of workforce boards are keeping those 
training caps down just because of low funding levels and they 
want to serve more people, and so if we could raise those funds 
to Pell Grant levels it requires more funding to do so, but 
also the availability with additional funding so that we can 
serve more people through upskilling, reskilling, and next 
skilling, that there's a cost involved.
    And so it's very important to increase the availability. I 
think workforce boards have that ability to do so, and also to 
attach the training to labor market information in those 
communities.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much. I'm out of time. I 
now recognize Representative Foxx for the purpose of 
questioning the witnesses.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Chairwoman Wilson, and again I thank 
our witnesses for being with us today. Mr. Sigelman, you 
discussed at length in your testimony the need for our 
workforce system to be more demand driven, and a better partner 
for industry.
    At the same time workers are not well-served by a system 
that focuses solely on credentials without identifying skills 
that individuals already possess.
    What is driving this disconnect between supply and demand? 
How can WIOA help to address the problem, and what benefits 
will workers and employers see if we can close this gap?
    Mr. Sigelman. Thank you, Ranking Member Foxx, for the 
question. You asked about the question of the mismatch between 
supply and demand. And it's a critical one because one of the 
things that we're seeing right now is a very strange 
phenomenon. What seems on the surface to be a strange 
phenomenon of millions of people who have been displaced, and 
at the same time increasingly urgent skills gaps.
    And I will put it simply this way, a million displaced wait 
staff can't fill a single cybersecurity job. And so what we're 
seeing is that as employers let go you know, have had to let go 
of people, as they begin to rehire now as the economy recovers, 
employers are making a bet whenever you make a hire, on the 
future of your business. And so employers are starting to hire 
for the future skills that they need.
    So as a result on the one hand workers who have been 
working in a field for decades may not have the skills, they 
need to get their old job back. And at the same time it means 
that employers are doubling down on skills that were already in 
short supply.
    Our workforce system can help to bridge that gap by 
tracking the sets of skills that are in demand for jobs today, 
and by being responsive to those changes in demand.
    Ms. Foxx. Well thank you very much. Mr. McGrew thanks for 
sharing the exciting work that Indiana is doing to strengthen 
the workforce in your State. We often talk about how states can 
serve as ``laboratories of democracy'' that are often more 
innovative than the Federal Government.
    One issue you mentioned that seems to plaque our workforce 
system is the balance between accountability and flexibility 
for the list of eligible providers of education services. What 
recommendations do you have on how to maintain the quality of 
providers while also welcoming new and innovative actors onto 
these lists to address in demand skills needed in the future.
    Mr. McGrew. Well thank you Ranking Member Foxx for that 
question. I think it has in part things to do with what Matt 
was just discussing in terms of looking at in demand jobs and 
skills, and it's really two-fold. What we do here we have two 
mechanisms. That wage and demand threshold that we look at for 
program eligibility, while at the same time we are monitoring 
outcomes of our programs.
    Looking at job placement rates, looking at completion 
rates, and looking at wages. I think if more states took an 
open-end approach to looking at both the labor market 
information to drive investment, as well as the outcomes of 
programs we would be able to better serve all Americans.
    Ms. Foxx. I want to inject something in here that I think 
is important that none of you have talked about in your written 
testimony, or in your spoken testimony. And I think it's a 
tremendous opportunity that's being left out.
    Every employer has the opportunity to spend $5,250.00 for 
education expenses for an employee. You all are asking us for a 
lot more money through WIOA when I hear nobody talking about 
the fact that employers who have the greatest interest at heart 
in filling their jobs, could be using this money.
    Furthermore, I'm not sure exactly which one of the CARES 
Act bills that passed, but we are currently approving $5,250.00 
for any employer to pay off student loans, and for an employee. 
I do not understand why those things aren't getting more play, 
and while you all aren't talking about that.
    Every one of you should be pushing those things, and nobody 
is mentioning that. We need to be pushing that too, every 
Member of Congress needs to be doing that. It is no cost to the 
employers to pay those expenses, and it is not income to the 
employee.
    And I'm doing everything I can to get that word out, and I 
think we need to do more. I don't think we need more money in 
these programs. I don't think the money is being spent very 
well, and I don't think all the resources that are available to 
employers are being used wisely.
    And I think I'm going to be asking you all a lot more 
questions when this hearing is over about what you're doing to 
get accountability, and to use all the resources that are 
available to you.
    But I thank you very much and Mr. Barela please tell 
Governor Polis I said hello because he was one of two 
republicans who voted for the Skills Act when it originally 
passed the House of Representatives. He got it a long time ago. 
Thank you very much.
    Mr. Scott. One of the few Democrats.
    Ms. Foxx. Yes, one of the two I said.
    Mr. Scott. You said Republicans.
    Ms. Foxx. I'm sorry one of the two Democrats, excuse me, 
that voted for it, so thank you Mr. Scott. I appreciate your 
correcting me thank you.
    Mr. Barela. Madam Chair I will convey that message to 
Governor Polis thank you.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Leadership, leadership, all of you are 
over time. Dr. Scott I think it's important also while we are 
fighting to bring up why we're fighting so hard for this $15.00 
minimum wage to be instituted, but also, we need to make sure 
that our employers know all of the benefits that came out of 
the CARES package. I agree with you 100 percent. And now Mr. 
Takano.
    Mr. Takano. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm certain that 
Governor Polis is relieved that he is still known as a 
democrat. My first question is to Mr. Barela. Mr. Barela 
research has indicated that career navigation services can make 
a big difference in helping connect workers, especially with 
individuals with barriers to employment to the right training 
in jobs.
    What are navigation services? Can you answer it? What is 
meant by navigation services Mr. Barela?
    Mr. Barela. Rep. Takano thank you for the question. You 
know what we feel in Colorado is when people have access to a 
career navigator, career coach that knows about the labor 
market, knows about what training demands from industries that 
are growing or in their communities, there's a better 
connection to their current portfolio skills and what they may 
need to boost our access skills training so that there's a 
better placement.
    And the career connected input is related to the labor 
market in that community. And so you know what that coach will 
do is assess where they are, their life experience, maybe their 
education, but also the skills they've learned on their job. 
And then match that to what's it's the point in the economy. So 
if there is an investment or could be work-based learning where 
there's a wage involved where we put them in on the job 
training, or in an apprenticeship program, there's a better 
connection to career path and the retention is better.
    When you know that there's a good match when you place 
someone in training and then a job, we hope that the retention 
into the career path and that will lead to a better outcome for 
that worker, and for the employer. Employers don't like to 
rehire and rehire when there's not a good fit.
    Mr. Takano. Well thank you for that. Thank you for letting 
us know what navigation services are. How does Colorado's 
workforce system provide job seekers or career changers access 
to these services that determine which employment or training 
options are right for them? I just wanted to kind of embellish 
on what you were saying.
    Mr. Barela. Sure in Colorado again as I mentioned in my 
testimony, work very closely with the Markle Foundation, and we 
started with their career ``coaching'' training, and we've had 
over 60 coaches that have gone through that 1-year program. 
We're in discussions to look at how do we make it available to 
every career coach in every American job center of the 53 we 
have in Colorado, have that training virtually and ongoing, so 
that they have the ability from that curriculum to look at 
labor market information, to do assessments, to look at 
profiles of individuals, to look at a human center design.
    But the counterpart to that is making sure we work with 
employers so they're not shutting the door to people who may 
not have proxies such as an education credential or years of 
experience, that they're really looking at the jobs and the 
competences and skills that are needed in those growing 
sectors, and they may look at a resume that is skills-based, so 
that they're not shutting the door, especially for marginal 
communities, people of color, low-income individuals that may 
not have that credential, that most employers look for with an 
associate's degree or a bachelor's degree.
    Mr. Takano. Yes, it's getting not how to be stuck on the 
credential, there is other ways to validate. What impact would 
be expanding access to individualized career services and 
navigation supports through a WIOA reauthorization have on 
helping people get back to work or find better career pathways?
    Mr. Barela. I think I heard you. I think the access was in 
regard to I talked about you know people who have the 
opportunity to work with our current workforce system, not all 
the coaches have been trained, and our annualized outcomes of 
the workforce system about $12,700.00 better for the people 
that come into our centers, than someone who tries to find a 
job on their own.
    If we would have all our coaches trained in upskilled and 
consistently up to date with the labor market information, and 
tools that would make them better, that outcome would be even 
higher I believe, and you know, I think Ranking Member Foxx 
mentioned that we need to see a better retention rate of 70 
percent.
    I do think that would be impacted when we'd see a better 
retention rate from the training inputs, or even the direct 
labor exchange we offer individuals would greatly be improved.
    Mr. Takano. Oh great. Mr. McGrew, you've noted that there 
are not enough slots in qualified training programs to meet the 
demand for training in your State. What are the challenges to 
expanding training program capacity?
    Mr. McGrew. Thank you Representative for the question. It 
really is I think twofold here, capacity of the provider 
community to actually have those slots available. You know we 
work primarily with our community college system on our next 
level jobs programs, so making sure that all of the training 
that has been identified is available at those campuses and are 
able to meet those local needs is extremely important things 
that we are thinking we need to work through with them.
    But I also think you know we look at how we fund our 
current programs within the State funds that we have available. 
There is so much demand that we often times run out of that 
funding halfway through the year. So we are you know borrowing 
from other programs in order to fill that need.
    And then creating our awareness in the connectivity through 
the employer it is extremely important in getting them to 
recognize investments that they are making as well, and that's 
why I think on our employer training grant program we're seeing 
employers invest many more dollars in that $50,000.00 
reimbursement that we're seeing.
    So it really is trying to take that comprehensive approach 
to the entire system is really what our goal is.
    Mr. Takano. Thank you. Ms. Madam Chair I apologize for 
going over time, but I yield back.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much. We all have our days. 
Mr. Good of Virginia? You're next.
    Mr. Good. Thank you Madam Chair and I thank you to our 
entire panel and all of our witnesses here today and thank you 
for the opportunity to ask you some questions.
    And I'm actually going to do something today that we don't 
hear enough of, and that's the innovation and the economic 
opportunity that comes from the results achieved by the real 
leaders in the private sector in rural America, instead of more 
Washington knows best promises that we often here from.
    In order to address the needs of displaced workers I think 
it's important to acknowledge private innovation, and the 
investment that is already meeting these needs I want to give 
credit where it is due. I want to highlight specifically 
Microsoft's presence in my district, as one such example.
    Microsoft has a facility in rural Mecklenburg County that 
acts as a data center and a major employer for the area. For 
most of you who probably don't know Mecklenburg, it's a 
beautiful county with great communities, and I'm proud to 
represent them. Sadly, it has endured the pain of economic 
displacement like other rural areas throughout the country as 
some of its historic industries have shrunk or have been 
displaced.
    But Microsoft has a presence going back some 10 years in 
the district in this community, bringing digital innovation to 
this part of rural southside Virginia, and this does not simply 
represent one additional employer for my district, but it's 
actually helped change the way we view education and workforce 
development more broadly.
    Mecklenburg County is currently in the process of 
constructing a modern high school expected to open in fall of 
2022, with specialized career tracks for students to develop 
the skills they need to thrive in a skill-based economy.
    Among the many skilled job-ready specialties offered, 
things such as: Electrical, mechanical, plumbing, welding, et 
cetera, also included is advanced technology with a credential 
that is required to work at this local Microsoft data center.
    So for those looking to Washington, DC, or Congress to have 
all the answers, and I say go to Mecklenburg and see what 
Microsoft and our community education leaders there are doing 
that this body so often fails to do, innovate, and recognize 
the value in rural America.
    So my question probably expectedly with that lead-in, is 
for Ms. Wu with Microsoft. Ms. Wu aside from direct investment 
of more hard-working taxpayer dollars, how can Congress help 
and encourage the private sector to develop innovative 
opportunities like what Microsoft has done in rural Mecklenberg 
County in Virginia?
    Ms. Wu. Thank you, Congressman, and we're very proud of our 
work in your district. And frankly, we've learned a lot from 
working with southside Virginia Community College. I think 
something we learned from that as they say it takes a village, 
and so sometimes Federal dollars can be a helpful sort of 
leveraging point.
    They can also be a helpful convenor of the workforce system 
to sort of bring people together, and show look, here are where 
are the gaps, here are some partners that can work together. 
They can use non-Federal dollars as you said, but sort of 
bringing people together to have a better understanding of the 
needs and the different supports is very important.
    Something we really learned from that partnership for 
example, is there needs to be supports all the way along. You 
have got to recruit students, students need scholarships which 
we provided, they need devices. Their devices weren't up to 
snuff.
    When we worked with the community college to say OK, we'll 
have a data center lab, so we can simulate what it's like to 
work in the data center. It turned out in the building you know 
the electrical systems needed to be upgraded to build the lab. 
So there are many stages along the way, and many ways that 
different partners, Governor or non-government can pitch in to 
help.
    Mr. Good. Thank you for that answer. Why do you think some 
might view rural America as an economic liability, rather than 
an opportunity for investment as Microsoft did a few years back 
here in Mecklenburg? And what could be done to improve of how 
that perception of rural America?
    Ms. Wu. Well first of all I think it's going out to our 
communities and really listening and working with partners. 
Microsoft is proud to partner with 4H and Future Farmers of 
America on making sure people all over the United States have 
digital skills.
    And we learned our lesson. You know people want to stay in 
the communities where they were raised. You can try to bring in 
talent from somewhere else, but those people maybe won't stay. 
So actually investing in communities, getting people the skills 
they need, it benefits us not only because they may work at the 
data center, but they may open other business, start their own 
tech firms in the area, and that way we can help to grow a hub 
of innovation which is what we're really trying to do.
    Mr. Good. Well thank you all for being part of the solution 
there in that rural part of Virginia, Mecklenburg County, and 
Chairman my time has expired, so I yield back thank you.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much Representative Good. 
And now Representative Jayapal from Washington.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you so much Madam Chair and great to 
hear the bipartisan support for this. I've seen in my district 
how WIOA can help workers connect with strong well-paying jobs. 
And I wanted to root it also in a real person's story. This is 
the story of Gloria, a woman that was helped by My Neighborhood 
Houses WIOA program.
    Gloria wanted to earn more, so she could move out of her 
doubled-up living situation, but she also needed a swing shift 
because she only had evening care for her children. 
Neighborhood House, which is a non-profit here identified a job 
at Harbor View Medical Center and helped her to apply and 
negotiate her salary to $21.40 an hour.
    She is now living with her family in a two-bedroom 
apartment, has a savings account, and is becoming more 
financially secure. I think that's the type of assistance that 
is more critical than ever as we recover from a recession that 
has hit women, people of color, and people in lower wage jobs 
particularly hard.
    Women, many of them women of color, have lost 5.4 million 
jobs overall during the recession, and in December 2020 alone 
women accounted for nearly all the jobs lost with a 
disproportionately high number of job losses coming from women 
of color.
    Mr. Barela what role should the public workforce system 
play in making sure that workers hardest hit by this pandemic 
are not being left behind?
    Mr. Barela. Thank you, Representative, great question. We 
know that the disruption that has happened as of the economic 
crisis from COVID has hit young people and women, and people of 
color exponentially difficult. I think we need to make sure 
that access points for these individuals are available like you 
mentioned in the community, the Neighborhood Housing, or the 
House Program.
    We need to make sure that no matter what door someone walks 
in that the public workforce system has resources and 
availability of upscaling potential. We also need to get back 
to that learning doesn't have to be separate from earning, and 
for especially people of color and young women, single mothers, 
where we can train them, credential them while they're working 
and earning a wage is so critical.
    And those need to be available at every juncture of their 
career, not just when there's disruption. I think we need to 
make sure that we work in partnership with our businesses and 
industries so that skilling, upskilling, reskilling, next 
skilling is happening while they're working, so that 
potentially they can escape the next economic downturn because 
of those interventions.
    And so we need to look at how apprenticeships, lifetime, 
not just when they're young people, but mid-career 
professionals can access the opportunity to be relevant in 
growing industries and with skills as they earn money as well.
    Ms. Jayapal. Very important. Thank you so much. Mr. 
Sigelman as of last month 4.2 million people were experiencing 
long-term unemployment. And in the last recession we saw that 
Asian Americans experienced more long-term employment than any 
other group.
    That trend has continued under this recession. What lessons 
should we take from the last recession to not only ensure that 
people find new employment, but also find more suitable careers 
that keep them in the labor force, and are there particular 
steps that should be taken to address long-term unemployment 
among Asian Americans and other groups?
    Mr. Sigelman. One of the greatest tragedies of the job 
market as we've seen in past recessions, and we're seeing in 
this one, is also one of its greatest opportunities. It's kind 
of what your rearview mirror says: Objects in the mirror are 
closer than they appear.
    And people and opportunities are often just a few skills 
apart. We too often try to match people on very literal levels. 
If somebody loses a job in a field and in many places, 
workforce systems are trying to find another job in that same 
occupation. Opportunities in that occupation often experience 
shortage at the same time.
    And so we need to be able to refocus the way first of all 
that we look for how people look and identify opportunities, 
and to be based on the skills that they have, rather than the 
jobs that they've been in. And second, we need to use that same 
idea to refocus workforce training programs to make sure that 
we are being as efficient as possible.
    People will often have to take a step down and as a result, 
and one of the things we've learned from the past recessions is 
that people who have been displaced wind up as you've pointed 
out, on the sidelines of the economy for long periods of time, 
and ultimately sometimes unfortunately never get back to where 
they were.
    The key is as Mr. Barela was just saying, it's so important 
to make sure that we can provide ongoing support to workers.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you.
    Mr. Sigelman. Sorry go ahead.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure I get 
Ms. Wu in here because she worked on this in the last recession 
for the Obama administration. Anything you want to add on this 
topic Ms. Wu from your experience?
    Ms. Wu. I agree with what Mr. Sigelman said. I think it's 
also important for the Department to think about under WIOA or 
otherwise, how to have some targeted interventions, especially 
for those who end up long-term unemployed.
    When people get unemployed for a long time, they can lose 
hope. They lose attachment, and I think there are a lot of 
tools that can keep people sort of continuously learning and 
showing their skills in other ways and provide that positive 
affirmation for that.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you so much. Madam Chair my time has 
expired so I yield back.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much. And now our 
Representative Grothman of Wisconsin. Representative Grothman?
    Ms. Foxx. Glenn, can you hear? Obviously can't, Madam 
Chairman I apologize. Go ahead to the next person. We'll get to 
him when he's available the next time, thank you.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Representative Spartz?
    Mr. Spartz. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am very happy to see 
PJ here in the Committee from Indiana. I know that Indiana is 
very forward looking on an innovative approach to workforce 
development, and it's very needed, and I was proud to be part 
of this effort, and I know I just would like you to share some 
of the things regarding how we can have a better operation 
between State and Federal Governments.
    And I wanted for you to just maybe mentioned a few of the 
things what we can improve in the flexibility of structure. How 
the State managed workforce development problems, and also 
maybe in the flexibility of funding streams that you could 
streamline all of these processes. Could you just share some of 
the examples how we look to do better so we could have a better 
return on investment when we invest in human capital which is 
very important.
    Mr. McGrew. Thank you representative. It's great to see you 
again. I think a couple of things on that topic. What we've 
been able to do with the waiver that we received from the US 
DOL from our broad structure so that we could really start to 
coordinate more activity across State and Federal programs 
which was so important.
    What we found was that you know our former workforce board 
was really driven by the workforce development agency and we 
want to see that connectivity across all of our programs, so by 
removing that, separating that out, elevating that a little 
bit, and including that directly underneath the Governor's 
office and driving for his vision with a Chair from our 
government system to better coordinate those activities on a 
day in and day out basis is so vital to what we've been able to 
do the last several years.
    In terms of flexibility I know we have talked a lot about 
supportive services, and other programs to be able to connect 
people to. I think taking a broader look across where various 
funding streams are and Federal programs, especially those 
programs that also provide employment and training services to 
individuals that are on SNAP and other Federal programs is 
very, very important.
    And one of the reasons why we opted to do a combined plan. 
So that we looked at it from in terms of eligibility across 
these programs so that we could start to stack funding streams 
together to see that ROI, instead of having disparate systems 
trying to accomplish some of the same goals.
    So I think as we consider WIOA reauthorization, that 
connectivity, flexibility of funding streams I think especially 
as it relates to the core programs within WIOA, and the people 
that are being served at a local level and how we can transfer 
funds back and forth between those programs will definitely go 
a long way.
    Ms. Spartz. Thank you very much. And the bottom of that 
issues is also maybe all of the panelists can briefly mention 
as a CPA and someone who works a lot in the financial fields, 
it seems like you know financial illiteracy is really something 
that is a big discussion, because ultimately you know we start 
our careers, but our investment in our future investments in 
assets and in our careers really creates an understanding of 
finances.
    That's why we create wealth in advance of our careers. And 
it seems like out of college a little bit too, accounting and 
was a high school Ambassador for CPA's society, and it seems 
like there is such a lack of understanding core basic principle 
you know of finances, and we are like a powerhouse of finance 
and not educated our children you know about the finances.
    So I want to know just from the panelists if you've been 
successful in implementing, and PJ you can start and maybe go 
quickly through all of the panelists and give us a success of 
some of the initiatives, and where you see maybe we can do 
better.
    Mr. McGrew. Yes. I think we can again as several Members of 
the Subcommittee have already alluded to of the other 
panelists. What is happening within the private sector, I just 
met with an employer last week who had mentioned that they were 
raising their wages from $11.50 an hour to over $15.00 an hour, 
but you know recognizing with those wage chains that employees 
were going to have other issues that they were dealing with, 
with that new income and wanting to provide them more 
comprehensive financial planning services to be able to 
accomplish that.
    I think we need to interject just like digital literacy 
skills that financial planning within our workforce system, so 
that as individuals go through training and are placed at 
higher wage occupations, they know how to use those resources 
going forward.
    Ms. Spartz. Anyone else?
    Mr. Sigelman. Mr. Barela before discussed the importance of 
career navigation programs and I couldn't agree more. And I 
think I bring that up here because we have to think about 
career navigation, not just as once and done, but as an ongoing 
support for people to have the skills that will enable them to 
keep going in their careers, not just to place into the first 
job, but to keep progressing upward and to achieve the American 
dream, they need a broad set of skills, a broad set of 
foundational skills, as well as kind of the financial literacy 
skills to enable them to navigate their careers and build 
prosperity.
    Ms. Spartz. Thank you very much, but I agree with you. We 
have to teach people how to create wealth, so thank you. I 
think my time expired. I yield back.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much. 
Representative Omar welcome?
    Ms. Omar. Thank you, Chairwoman. Really appreciate this 
hearing today. My home State of Minnesota has started taking an 
important step in addressing the racial disparities of economic 
and educational outcomes in our workforce system.
    The Minnesota Strategy Plan has two racial equity goals, 
reducing educational, and skilled training and employment 
disparities based on race, disability, gender, or disconnected 
youth, and building employment-led partnerships that expand the 
talent pipeline to be inclusive of race disability gender and 
age.
    However, as I'm sure you all know, there aren't Federal 
guidelines to encourage all states and localities to explicitly 
include demographic goals in their workforce plan. Mr. Barela 
I'm curious to hear if Colorado has similar goals in their 
strategic plan to close racial equity gaps and improve outcomes 
for disenfranchised communities.
    Mr. Barela. Thank you, Representative Omar. Great question. 
And I think in part of the documents that I sent you is we have 
the talent equity agenda that really sets the pathway for 
Colorado workers and business industry, and even educators to 
start looking at how we are serving our diverse population in 
Colorado, and the goal of that equity agenda is that every 
Coloradan has the opportunity to upskill, reskill, and next 
skill, so they have a valid career path to live in the 
community that they call home here in Colorado.
    And so we will be looking at how we can you know first of 
all put out there that we aren't doing as well with some of our 
marginalized populations, our people of color, our disabled, 
and what we need to put in resources and programs so that they 
have a fair opportunity to reach success in the world of work, 
so great question.
    And we are paying attention to that. We have that equity 
agenda plan, and we also have a talent pipeline that 
specifically targets where we're not meeting the mark in 
Colorado, and we need to do better.
    Ms. Omar. Glad to hear that. Have these efforts yielded 
positive results for historically disenfranchised communities 
in your state?
    Mr. Barela. They have and over the years we've done the 
talent equity, but this is the first year for the talent equity 
agenda, but with the talent pipeline report has seen progress 
in our Hispanic populations, and in our black populations.
    We know that we have to do better with attainment of not 
only basic skills and high school education, but we also need 
to see how we can make opportunities for credentialling post-
high school, post-secondary education, so that they have a 
chance to look at career paths that look beyond minimum wage.
    Ms. Omar. Thank you so much. I've been talking to many 
communities in our district about their concerns during this 
post-COVID economic recovery. The most common priority brought 
up to me was that we need to create a holistic support system 
to help people fully participate in our economy and greater 
society. This means improving access to essential supportive 
services from cash assistant to childcare, and from 
transportation to housing.
    The economic and human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has 
been devastating, and so it is understandable that many 
Americans will need additional support just to be able to 
participate and succeed in these programs, putting funds toward 
training and career services can only take us so far if we also 
aren't addressing the underlying socio-economic disparities, 
preventing many people from entering or staying in the 
workforce in the first place.
    So Mr. McGrew can you discuss how your State is handling 
the delivery of support services to address the systematic 
inequities faced by underserved communities?
    Mr. McGrew. Thank you Representative for that question. I 
think one of the main focuses that we had in our strategic plan 
was really colocation services and cross-trained staff, so that 
you were making sure that all of our staff were aware of the 
various programs that existed to help support individuals 
through their education training journey such as cash 
assistance, or food assistance.
    I think one of the unique things that we are doing in 
Indiana is we have deployed a group of Ambassadors to select 
locations across the State to learn how these programs are 
actually being implemented at a local level to understand the 
barriers, and then we can come back and pull what policy levers 
we need to, to be able to provide those supports that are 
needed and changes within the system.
    The other thing that we have done, and this was strategic 
on our part of the data that we were using in that scene of the 
first couple of years of our employer training grant program 
was that we carved out a set amount of funding and we actually 
went above and beyond this past fall of our employer training 
grant designated to minority businesses, women owned 
businesses, and we set aside five million dollars initially for 
that effort, and then we ended up spending over seven million 
dollars and saw an increase of about 200 percent of such 
employers, so.
    Ms. Omar. That's great. I know I'm out of time. It would be 
really interesting to see if any of these training programs 
have helped with retention in employment in your State. Madam 
Chair I yield back.
    Chairwoman Wilson. He can followup in writing if you would 
so desire. Thank you so much. And now Mr. Grothman are you 
here?
    Mr. Grothman. Thank you yes, can you hear me?
    Chairwoman Wilson. We can hear you.
    Mr. Grothman. I'm going to switch the original question I 
had after hearing that last question from the Congresswoman 
from Minneapolis. A big complaint I get from my employers is 
they feel the government benefits are so generous they are 
paying people to sit on the sideline, which means they are not 
only getting not only not working, but not getting the work 
experience you need to move in a more highly skilled position.
    Have any of the four of you as you talk to your employers, 
heard about the complaints of the current dollars pouring out 
of Washington, that they're too generous and are causing 
people's life to stagnate? Mr. McGrew, anybody? I mean I hear 
it all the time that's why I wondered, anybody? Nobody heard 
that?
    Mr. McGrew. I'd like to talk a little bit about what we're 
doing to help resolve some of those issues with the folks that 
we had on unemployment insurance currently and using data to 
better serve those individuals.
    What we have done throughout the pandemic is really been to 
look at our unemployment insurance claimant's data, their 
educational attainment levels, their job experiences, and I've 
started to use that data to group that into various groups by 
workforce region, and then provide very specific and targeted 
information about if they do not have a high school diploma, 
the adult education program nearest them in their region. If 
they are looking for certain jobs, sending them job postings
    Mr. Grothman. What if the employers think they're sitting 
on the sideline, and when they come in, they offer them a job 
and then they won't show up? What do you do with people like 
that?
    Mr. McGrew. I have not heard that specific complaint from 
our employers about offering jobs and people not showing up to 
work.
    Mr. Grothman. OK. My second concern is we continue to I 
think get too many people who are directed wrongly, and then 
they get a big college degree that doesn't lead to a job, and 
later on get a skills-based education from a tech school, or 
for a second degree, or from their employer themselves.
    Could you comment on what you are all doing to prevent 
people from getting degrees that don't lead to a valuable 
skill. Does anybody know about that?
    Mr. Barela. Congressman Grothman this is Joe Barela. I 
would say again I would stress how important that career 
navigation is for young people and mid-career professionals, so 
that if we're going to invest public money, or private money of 
their own, or even loan money, that that training leads to 
employment in a career pathway.
    We are so far beyond the days where we could train and pray 
that there's a job at the end of the training process.
    Mr. Grothman. I just asked you guys because I talk to young 
people all the time. Could you give me say three or four 
college degrees that you would suggest I advise my high school 
students to stay away from?
    Mr. Barela. College degrees or high school degrees, I'm 
sorry?
    Mr. Grothman. College degrees, yes, yes, yes.
    Mr. Barela. You know I don't know if there's a particular 
one, I would say stay away from. Young people need to be in 
tune with their local labor markets. Where do they want to 
work, and are they hiring?
    Mr. Grothman. OK. I'll rattle off four for you: Psychology, 
political science, communication arts, and social work. What do 
you think when people say I'm getting a degree in one of those 
four fields?
    Mr. Barela. Well I will tell you I have a dual degree, one 
in psychology, and one in biology, and I'm working and have 
really enjoyed my profession in the human services, and 
workforce development, human capital development. So I really 
think it depends on the individual and what they want to do 
with that degree, and that's where coaching comes into play.
    If you can attach any type of learning, if it's 
professional education, if it's academic education, is there a 
job in a career path at the end of the day.
    Mr. Grothman. I'll ask you this. We put a lot of money into 
this. The last thing we need is more money because we're paying 
people to get one degree, and then later on another 
certificate. Do you think we should condition Federal Pell 
Grants, Federal loans, and aiming for a skills-based degree 
that people need like nursing?
    Mr. Barela. I do think that any resources that are spent on 
a degree in education should be attached to skills and 
competencies in those industries and sectors that are growing.
    Mr. Grothman. OK. So not Pell Grants for everything under 
the sun. Thank you. I will quote you on that. Anybody else 
comment on that?
    Mr. Barela. Well and that's the role of the local workforce 
board. They can decide how they can use their resources in any 
of the Title I programs in how they reward and allow people to 
use those funds that are connected to the labor market in their 
community.
    Mr. Grothman. OK. Thank you very much. We have lots of 
other questions, but I'm sure the other people will catch some.
    Chairwoman Wilson. OK. Before recognizing our next witness 
I just want to note that there has been plenty of reporting 
done to show that people are not in fact sitting on the 
sidelines out of the labor market because of pandemic 
unemployment, but because the wages and the benefits employers 
are offering are too, too low they don't even make the 
positions attractive to potential candidates.
    That is why even some republicans have now acknowledged 
that we need to raise the minimum wage, and why this Committee 
right here that you're sitting on has led the charge of 
increasing the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. If there were 
really a labor shortage then wages would go up, but they 
aren't.
    We also need more resources for our workforce system to 
help people find pathways to new jobs, which is what we are 
discussing today. Not unemployment insurance, which our 
Committee has no jurisdiction over, and with that I now 
recognize Representative Leger Fernandez of New Mexico.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you, Chairwoman Wilson, for that 
clarification, and for holding this hearing and Ranking Member 
Murphy. I want to also thank our witnesses for joining us today 
to share the apprenticeships, the coaching, the talent equity 
approaches, and life-long learning programs that work.
    You know I am struck by the Burning Glass documentation of 
a 2.3 trillion-dollar opportunity grab, and I hope that we can 
meet that challenge using WIOA. I want to talk a little bit 
about something that I think affects my home State a lot, but 
also this entire country, and that is in New Mexico one in 10 
paychecks is tied to the arts.
    And how that's especially important in New Mexico, the 
creative economy is essential to the entire U.S. economy. But 
since the start of the pandemic the United States has lost an 
estimated 15.2 billion dollars in the arts and cultural sector. 
Creative workers have been some of the most severely impacted 
by the COVID pandemic at the height 63 percent of creative 
workers experienced unemployment.
    Mr. Barela can you elaborate on what Colorado is doing to 
help provide employment opportunities for those engaged in the 
creative economy?
    Mr. Barela. Thank you, Representative Fernandez. And my 
heart is with you. My family has roots in New Mexico and 
southern Colorado, so my parents have a home in Santa Fe, so 
the arts are so important to me growing up.
    And so I wanted to let you know in Colorado I've mentioned 
sector partnerships. We do have a specific sector partnership 
that works on the creative arts industry, and so bringing 
together employers and community-based organizations to work 
with us through the workforce system to make sure that we have 
pipelines for people interested in going into the career arts, 
and even the entrepreneurial field with creative industries.
    So that's how we are making sure that the arts industry is 
recognized, and we're supporting that in Colorado because it's 
so important to our economy as well. We also have to the 
pandemic people who are unemployment insurance highlighting 
sectors that are hiring and growing.
    In April one of our weeks was specifically spent on the 
growing job openings in the creative arts industries. And so I 
want to let you know that you know just as in New Mexico, thank 
you to that people have a variety of opportunities to take to 
the public workforce system and go into careers that are 
growing, and we need them to grow to support our tourism 
industry and our heritage are important to the public workforce 
system.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you for summarizing that. I'm 
actually working on Federal legislation to create a grants 
program under the Department of Labor in consultation with the 
national endowment for the arts to put creatives to work, so 
creating that art and experiences that can be enjoyed by the 
public, this is inspired by the WPA.
    We all remember the beautiful WPA Federal project one after 
the depression, and we see the murals, the beautiful art that 
has been preserved some of our most iconic artwork coming out 
of the depression and the WPA. And what I loved about it is it 
was celebrating cultures as you mentioned, our heritage across 
diverse communities.
    I hope you'd really be willing to work with me on getting 
that structured and with great input from Colorado as well.
    Mr. Barela. We'd love that opportunity thank you.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you. And you know when we think 
about the ability of the arts to inspire a nation, I only need 
to remember Amanda Gorman's inauguration poem, ``For there is 
always light, if only we were brave enough to see it. If only 
we're brave enough to be it.''
    So on the issue of light, another workforce that needs our 
help in New Mexico and across the entire country is fossil fuel 
workers. And as we move toward clean energy to address the 
climate crisis, I want to make sure we don't forget the folks 
that earned their living supplying energy to our Nation.
    Mr. Sigelman I'm struck by your Burning Glass model, and 
how that could be applied to displaced oil and gas workers. 
Have you found any best practices for these folks in particular 
that we can adopt in this reauthorization of WIOA?
    Mr. Siegelman. Thank you, Representative Leger Fernandez. 
And such an important opportunity right now to build on the 
skills that those working in the carbon economy have. As we see 
growing levels of decarbonization of the economy, we're going 
to need to be able to build bridges.
    And that starts by recognizing the skills that oil and gas 
workers have and using those to identify a broader set of 
opportunities for them. One of the things compounding the 
challenge there is of course the geography of the carbon 
economy and the geography of the green economy don't always 
align.
    And so one of the things we'll have to do in addition to 
aligning up skills is making sure that we can leverage remote 
technologies and the like to be able to build bridges for those 
workers that can find the opportunities and the kinds of 
incomes they deserve.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you very much Mr. Sigelman, but 
my time has expired, but that goes to the point that was 
mentioned earlier people want to stay and live in the place 
they call home. I yield back.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much. Ms. 
Fulcher of Idaho? No? Ms. Miller-Meeks?
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you so much Madam Chair and I'll 
just say I've spent my day today traveling to various employers 
in my district, and contrary to statements just made here in 
Iowa they're having tremendous difficulty in hiring people, and 
these are not jobs at minimum wage, these are jobs at $16.00, 
$25.00, $30.00 an hour, and even some employers jobs that are 
between $80.00 to $130,000.00 a year with excellent benefits.
    So I just wanted to add that in that there are good paying 
jobs in Iowa, so if people want to relocate, we would welcome 
them here. Mr. McGrew it seems like Indiana has a rather unique 
structure for your State workforce system. This structure has 
also seemingly influenced your State planning process across 
multiple programs.
    How have you maintained a stronger employer voice on your 
State board, while also increasing coordination across 
government agencies at the State level? Has this structure 
enabled you to bridge gaps more effectively between the 
education and workforce systems?
    Mr. McGrew. Well thank you Representative for that 
question. In terms of maintaining employer voice. So we do have 
a policy Committee underneath the cabinet, and it is primarily 
employers, so we have five employers on that representing the 
various sectors that are a part of our workforce program, and 
then we have four members from different State agencies that 
are implementing programs, the Commission for Higher Education, 
Department of Workforce Development, our Department of 
Education and then myself.
    So you know we really get to hear from our employers there, 
but also then working with our local workforce boards and their 
employers and serving them and sitting in on their quarterly 
meetings of our workforce board association to get that 
feedback of what's happening at a local level.
    In terms of coordinating across the agencies I do believe 
by having a Chair that serves in State government, and runs a 
State agency, we are better able to better coordinate that 
activity, especially since you know the Governor appointed our 
commissioner to higher education, we are seeing the bridging of 
that education and workforce gap.
    I often times would like to say that you know workforce 
development anymore is educational attainment paired with 
supportive services and skills that are aligned to economic 
needs, and that's what we're doing with the targeted 
investments that we're making in our next level jobs program.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. So thank you for that, and here in Iowa 
we're similar where our employers have a voice because they 
know what skillsets they need, so that training can be provided 
whether it's at the high school level, concurrent enrollment at 
community college, or there at the facility for that skills 
training, so thank you very much.
    Ms. Wu after LinkedIn's experience piloting skills-based 
hiring, you found that the company was both able to broaden the 
talent pool you were drawing from and improve hiring 
efficiency. I believe that efforts like this will be 
increasingly important as the world moves into a more skills-
based economy.
    And so two questions. Do avenues like TikTok which have 
been hiring. We learned that they were hiring people to help 
the cartels bring people across the border, but I know that 
TikTok has now for young people to become an avenue that they 
look for employment.
    And then also through LinkedIn and other avenues, how could 
the workforce system do a better job of focusing not just on 
credentials, but on individual skills?
    Ms. Wu. Thank you for that question. I think you know one 
of the things I'm not as familiar with some of the TikTok 
workforce efforts, but you know part of it is the workforce 
system has to go to where people are to try to reach them.
    And there was a question earlier about how they can do a 
better job of serving employers, this partnership we had in El 
Paso. You know they were very creative. They had laptops. 
Workforce staff went out. They went to where businesses are, 
business owners are busy. They're trying to run their business.
    And so in order to support them, coming to where people are 
in providing those services is tremendously important. We do 
think we're building on our skills-based hiring pilot, working 
with other companies that are interested in the same thing, and 
I think we have to remember actually before the pandemic the 
labor market was really tight, and so there were a lot of jobs 
already going unfilled, and a lot of employers are saying we're 
having a tough time filling these jobs.
    Maybe if we have a slightly broader lens, cast a wider net, 
we'll find more people, and at the same time achieve the ends 
of acknowledging people's skills and hiring people who maybe 
don't have the existing job title or degree, but can do the job 
very well.
    You know everyone has to do a job for the first time, and 
so making sure that people who have skills, but not necessarily 
the job title already are included as important.
    Ms. Miller-Meeks. And some of the data and information you 
gain through these events and outreach, do you relay those back 
to like a community college, or other apprenticeship programs, 
so they're aware of what's available and what skills are 
needed?
    Ms. Wu. Yes absolutely. We try to partner with local 
workforce boards and provide that information to them as well 
as community colleges and other partners.
    Ms. Miller-Meeks. Thank you. My time ran out. I yield back 
my time. Thank you so much.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. And now the very patient 
superstar Mr. Jones of New York.
    Mr. Jones. Thank you, Madam Chair, for those kind words, 
and to all of our witnesses for being here to share your 
testimony today. I'm glad the Committee is looking at how we 
can create pathways to employment for workers who have lost 
their jobs for one reason for another. The past year has 
demonstrated why investments in workforce development are 
critically needed.
    Millions of people lost their jobs as a result of the 
COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent economic fallout. And 
during this time many turned to workforce programs for 
assistance. Fortunately, we are on the path to recovery as 
things get back to normal.
    In my district the unemployment rate has dropped from 15 
percent at the height of the pandemic to around 6 percent 
today. There is still so much that needs to be done as we 
recover from the past year, which is why I'm glad our focus 
today is on the workforce in fostering employment 
opportunities.
    As Members of Congress it is our responsibility to ensure 
that all people have the resources they need to get back into 
the workforce after having lost a job, especially our 
vulnerable populations which are at a disadvantage because they 
lack those resources.
    Mr. Sigelman, I read in your testimony that racial inequity 
in our workforce isn't just a social problem, but an economic 
one. And you cite a study that found racial inequity accounts 
for 2.3 trillion dollars in unrealized economic gains in just 
2018 alone. Can you describe how we are limiting ourselves 
economically by not doing more to address racial inequity in 
the workforce, and how can WIOA better serve woman and people 
of color?
    Mr. Sigelman. Thank you, Representative Jones, for the very 
important question. So first the study that you're referring to 
was developed by policy Lincoln with Burning Glass using our 
data, and it provides an in-depth analysis of a disaggregated 
equity indicators in labor market dynamics.
    It found that white workers are 50 percent more likely than 
workers of color to hold good jobs, and that if you could 
eliminate those racial inequities in income, it would boost the 
U.S. economy, and as you sited by 2.3 million, trillion dollars 
here.
    I think it's important first of all to recognize that there 
will be really a double gain there. Not only does that 
represent 2.3 trillion dollars more in wages for workers of 
color, but it also says even in a free-market economy wages are 
a proxy for correctivity.
    So not only would that 2.3 trillion dollar gain to workers 
be a gain to workers, but it would also be a gain to industry 
having an even more productive workforce. So to your question 
the mechanism for being able to bridge that gap, and I think 
this is why it's skilled.
    What's most exciting is that the opportunity here to bridge 
the gap is real, it's clear, and it's achievable. The key is to 
look at what are the jobs that are going unfilled, and there 
has been a number of representatives who have cited that there 
are a lot of employers who are unable to find talent for jobs, 
there are critical talent shortages throughout the economy in 
New York and every district.
    If we start there with the landscape of opportunity and 
then work backward and say OK, where are there talent pools 
that have high representation of people of color, of women, of 
immigrants, and how do we think about the specific skill 
pathways that will enable people in those talent pools with 
strong representative to move into better paying jobs with more 
upward mobility with lower rates of representation.
    The workforce system can be designed to help people bridge 
those gaps by specifically acquiring the skills for those 
particular transitions.
    Mr. Jones. Thank you so much. Ms. Wu, since the beginning 
of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed a historic number 
of displayed workers, particularly in communities of color. As 
my colleague from Washington Ms. Jayapal pointed out, reports 
show that women of color have been disproportionately affected.
    What kinds of resources and funding can employers like 
Microsoft bring to the table to ensure that when displaced 
workers return to the workforce, they are earning livable wages 
that allow them to support their families?
    Ms. Wu. Thank you, Congressman. This is something I feel 
very passionately about. I actually started my career 
representing workers, a lot of steelworkers, tobacco workers, 
hotel workers, who had lost their jobs, and it is really tough 
on not just the worker, but their whole family when this 
happens.
    Microsoft has partnered with non-profits around the country 
to make sure that we're meeting people where they are, serving 
communities, diverse communities. We actually have a focused 
effort right now especially working with black and African 
American led, and serving non-profits, 50 non-profits around 
the country to provide career services, counseling, skills 
education, opportunities to connect to jobs.
    And doing that you know, that's part of what private sector 
can do. We have to do it in partnership with government and 
others, community colleges, libraries, wherever people are to 
meet people, and to help them do the best match they can to try 
to find good jobs as we talked about earlier, and also say if 
you need a few more skills here are some options.
    We're providing low and no cost training and 
certifications, but we know people do better when they have a 
partner to help them and support them, and so it's important to 
invest in those partnerships too.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you so much. If you want to 
respond more to Mr. Representative Jones, you can do so in 
writing. Everyone is interested in what you're saying. 
Representative Letlow?
    Ms. Letlow. Members of the Committee and witnesses, thank 
you taking the time to discuss opportunities for dislocated 
workers under the Workforce and Innovation and Opportunity Act. 
I'd like to highlight one workforce program that has benefited 
dislocated workers as well as new entrants into the workforce 
in my district and State. The Department of Labor has partnered 
with Delta Regional Authority and the Appalachian Regional 
Commission to administer an initiative called the workforce 
opportunity for rural communities.
    This program has boosted rural community workforce 
development efforts across the State and within the Fifth 
District. In fact, my alma mater and former employer, the 
University of Louisiana Monroe, was able to benefit from one of 
these grants.
    ULM partnered with numerous local parish school systems, 
community colleges, and workforce boards to create a high 
school business academy which taught students the basics of 
entrepreneurship, management, marketing, and accounting while 
allowing them to earn college credit.
    This partnership sought to align curriculum to regional 
needs. I hope Congress will continue to invest in the DOL Rural 
Community Workforce Program. Ms. Wu, you said that the most 
critical component of skilled programs is an immediate prospect 
to connect to good jobs.
    This seems to be a straightforward point, yet our workforce 
system all too often misses the opportunity to successfully 
partner with the business community. How can WIOA maximize 
employer engagement to ensure that workforce development 
priorities are closely aligned to regional economic development 
needs?
    Ms. Wu. Thank you for the question, and it's exciting to 
hear about that partnership. I think you know a couple things. 
As I said earlier small and medium size businesses, especially 
the ones that rely on the workforce system often are very 
stretched. They don't have a separate HR person, they don't 
have an internal training department, so working with them to 
really understand employer's needs.
    And as Dr. Foxx and others referenced, there are some great 
incentives and financial supports out there on the system, but 
sometimes business owners are too busy to find out about them, 
and so I think it's very important for the workforce system to 
sort of go to where employers are, provide them that support 
and information, and you know help them upscale their current 
workforce.
    You know, skating to where the puck is going, we want to 
skill all workers of course, but helping you know maybe being a 
little more flexible or providing more funds or programs for 
incumbent worker training, existing workers, they can develop 
skills on the job, that will help businesses and workers too.
    Ms. Letlow. Awesome. Thank you, Ms. Wu and to the other 
witnesses. I yield back my remaining time.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you so much. And now 
Ms. Manning of North Carolina.
    Ms. Manning. Thank you, Madam, Chair, and thank you to all 
the witnesses for being with us and staying right through to 
the end. I represent a district in North Carolina that lost 
thousands of jobs in the textile and furniture manufacturing 
industries in the late 1990's--early 2000's.
    And those were good jobs that workers could do with only a 
high school degree. Today as well look at the manufacturing 
jobs we currently are getting, they are advanced manufacturing 
jobs. They require more skills than people can gain with just a 
high school diploma, and I know that we're going to see more 
technological change, and more automation, and workers will 
need more skills if they have a shot at keeping their jobs.
    So Mr. Barela, can you talk to us about how the public 
workforce development system can adapt to provide access to 
upscaling opportunities for workers, so they can keep their 
jobs, rather than having a system that's reactive, and 
intervenes only after workers are displaced?
    Mr. Barela. Right. And I believe Assistant Secretary Wu 
mentioned incumbent worker training, and I think that's what 
workforce boards need to do with the Workforce Innovation 
Opportunity Act, but we need more opportunities that we can go 
and partner with our industry associations through sector 
initiatives, or even individual employers that could be small 
businesses, to work with those impacted works who need to be 
upscaled to work alongside technology, and not be displaced by 
technology to keep those jobs in advanced manufacturing.
    So I do think we have the opportunity, but we need to 
enhance the funding available to do that, and also encourage 
workforce boards to use those resources in that way. So much of 
our performance is based on reactionary displaced workers, and 
we need to look at how we measure success working with impacts 
to incumbent workers.
    The disruption that happened with COVID only exasperated 
what we're going to have to look at the disruption in other 
industries as automation becomes more prevalent, and is work is 
done by technology. But that technology needs human support, 
and so how do we do that?
    In Colorado you know we are working with advanced 
manufacturers with our in-school high school students who are 
apprenticeship programs, starting them at their junior and 
senior year, they're learning on the job, it's complemented 
with not only curriculum in high school, but in community 
college the third year they work mostly and get trained on the 
job, and then they have a choice to make.
    Do I want to continue my education in formal structures 
education, or do I stay employed and have the employer work 
with me with the career that I have, or earned while I was 
still in high school?
    Ms. Manning. Great thank you very much. And I have to say I 
have spent time visiting both of the great community colleges 
in my district, and they are working with employers to make 
sure that the training they're offering is in areas that 
employers need workers, and that they're also reaching into the 
high schools to make sure that they're getting training, 
getting high school kids interested, getting them summer 
internships or paid jobs while they are in high school, so they 
can also develop those skills or work toward those skills and 
then go into community colleges and continue to develop those 
skills.
    Mr. Sigelman I'd like to ask you if you have comments along 
the same lines, and also what can the Federal workforce system 
do to best meet the needs of the employers and workers?
    Mr. Sigelman. Thank you, Representative Manning. I think a 
lot of this comes down to being able to start by understanding 
what employers need. And you mentioned some of the excellent 
work that's being done by North Carolina community colleges 
where I'm very proud of our work with the number of community 
colleges in North Carolina and around the country.
    And helping them to take a data driven approach to 
understanding the landscape of opportunity for their 
communities. That's very important because very often we find 
is that all too often we find is that workforce systems, our 
career and technical education system, our CT system that is 
and others, are often misaligned in terms of how they are 
serving the landscape of demand and the landscape of 
opportunity.
    I'll give you an example. We recently did an analysis of 
the spending on TGE programs for the Excel and Ed Foundation, 
post the Perkins Act reauthorization. There's billions of 
dollars flowing into CT's and an incredible valuable resource 
in helping make sure that students can acquire an industry, 
recognize credentials.
    Unfortunately, what we found is that only 18 percent of the 
credentials that are being funded are actually in demand by 
employers, so then we start with opportunity first, use that as 
a key threshold to create standards for what kinds of training 
we fund, subject the ETPL community college programs to a 
standard of assessing their E2 jobs that are locally in demand 
and lead to good wages and upward mobility, then we can really 
turn the corner.
    Ms. Manning. Thanks very much. I yield back.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Ms. Manning. And now Mr. 
Bowman, Vice Chair of the Education and Labor Committee, you're 
on.
    Mr. Bowman. Thank you very much Madam Chairwoman. Ms. Wu, I 
have a question about digital literacy and upskilling. Thinking 
about employees who have been in the workplace for 10 to 15 
years who now find themselves needing to upskill. Given 
Microsoft's work on many digital literacy training efforts, can 
you describe what the key components are for making digital 
literacy training effective for workers who may need to upskill 
after having been in the workforce for some time?
    What additional support like childcare is needed beyond the 
content of the training?
    Ms. Wu. Thank you for that question. Well as you know from 
your background in education as well, people do need different 
kinds of supports to succeed. First of all we know adults learn 
best in context. And work is a great motivating context. When 
people know that you have to get on that conference call for 
work to be there with their boss, they are going to learn those 
tools, or they need to take these orders so the business will 
survive and thrive. They are very motivated.
    So that's first of all finding ways to help adults learn in 
context makes a big difference. Cohorts make a big difference. 
The people learning together with other peers, understanding 
hey, I'm having this challenge, how are you working through 
this challenge? That's also very important.
    And mentorship. People have gone through the program 
already and saying I had troubles there too, but actually this 
can make a big difference and you will get there. And a lot of 
our through community college partnerships, we find that 
people, you know, we have to give people also an opportunity to 
fall down and get back up.
    And so they need those other supports. That's why working 
with the public systems is important to provide transportation, 
maybe childcare, IT troubleshooting. My device at home is too 
old. I can't even log on to that course to get to it online. 
It's too slow, or it's too old. What do I do? How can I access 
resources? Get better broadband access, or to have you know 
some technical support to achieve what I want to.
    Mr. Bowman. Would you say that context and cohorts are also 
important as we think about high school education and even 
middle school education as well?
    Ms. Wu. Absolutely. Microsoft has a long-standing skills 
program which is basically teaching computer science in high 
school. We recognize that far too many students didn't even 
have a computer science class in their high school, and we've 
been expanding our effort in particular because we know for 
underserved populations if they get a class in high school, 
they are seven to 10 times more likely to pursue it in college.
    So you've got to start early, absolutely agree. Our 
approach there has been focusing on supporting teachers to sort 
of train the trainer, so we teach teachers in local high 
schools who are already there, already have the relationships, 
already are known to the students, and help students and 
teachers move forward together.
    But I absolutely agree you know at middle school and high 
school we all need support, right? We all succeed better when 
we're part of a team, and so having those supports and 
encouragement, and repeated exposure. It's not just a one time 
you're running across this, but you get to see technology 
opportunities, education, and people who look like you, or who 
are like you succeeding in technology fields is very important.
    Mr. Bowman. You made me very proud when I was a middle 
school Principal, we had one of the only computer science 
courses in New York City, and I have two former students. One 
is currently at MIT, the other is at Brum Science, excuse me, 
at Cornell after going to Brum Science. And we were located 
right around the corner from a housing project and as a Title I 
school.
    And I just got a text today from a former student who's 
going to be going to North Carolina A and T, so yes, computer 
science really matters. One quick question, what would you say 
to critics that argue workers cannot successfully make the 
transition, or make the change?
    Ms. Wu. I'm sorry to stay to critics that they can't do it.
    Mr. Bowman. Yes.
    Ms. Wu. Well you know I think everyone has the capacity to 
learn right? We're human, and that is part of being human. If 
people aren't successfully able to transition over to other 
things, we need to look at first of all we have to give people 
options. We have to look at the skills they already have as Mr. 
Sigelman also said, and not to say what don't you have, but 
what skills and experience do you have, and how can we build on 
that?
    And what are your aptitudes? Not all technology is the 
same. There are lots of things that you know it could be 
technology focused on energy and the environment. It could be 
in the helping professions, helping in healthcare. It could be 
counseling. It could be in gaming.
    So there are a lot of different opportunities across 
technology, and what we really need to do I think is open up 
that world, show people how technology is relevant to their 
lives and can help them advance, and find what's a good fit for 
them.
    Mr. Bowman. Thank you so much my time is running out. Sorry 
Mr. Sigelman and everyone else. I really wanted to ask you all 
a question, there's just not enough time. Thank you and I yield 
back.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bowman. And 
now Mr. Pocan of Wisconsin.
    Mr. Pocan. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks to all the 
witnesses for being here today. You know I was struck by 
something that you said Ms. Wu about who sits at the table 
really matters right? I think that's in so many aspects of 
life.
    And you know one thing I haven't heard talked about a whole 
lot today are the role of unions because as we know 
apprenticeships; although Mr. Barela you did mention registered 
apprenticeships in your initial remarks, are joint labor 
management cooperative processes.
    And so Mr. Barela if I can first, please extend my 
greetings to your Governor and to Marlon please, they were good 
friends and I appreciate them. But could you talk a little bit 
more about that registered apprenticeship experience?
    And then second, what more could we do to put unions at the 
table to help make these decisions, because I just left 2 days 
ago, I was at the apprenticeship program here at the painters 
and trades in Madison. We had Secretary Walsh here in town, we 
had him out to see it.
    So if you could just talk a little more about that I just 
haven't seen a whole lot of those conversations today.
    Mr. Barela. Thank you for that question, Representative. 
And you know part of our whole eco-system is making sure that 
through our earned learned models in the apprenticeship 
programs are highlighted.
    And I think our unions with the skills, trades, 
construction apprenticeships, offer such an opportunity for 
people in high school, people that are recently graduated from 
high school, and even mid-career professionals to go into an 
opportunity to get into a relative career pathway that offers a 
wage while they're going through that process.
    We have the Bell Commission here in Colorado which is our 
business experiential learning commission that was first 
created by Governor Hickenlooper and now Governor Polis which 
takes the business community and really exposes them to not 
only the opportunity through the State Department, the 
Department of Education, Department of High Education, 
Department of Economic Development, International Trade and 
Department of Labor, and figure out how can we make sure that 
people have pathways into industry that involve professional 
experience education and credentialling, and not just 
formalized academic credentials?
    And so our union apprenticeships and our merit-based 
apprenticeship programs sit at the table and discuss how we 
create opportunities for people to look at going into the 
apprenticeship field when they're young. But you know our 
average age of our apprenticeship when they join Colorado is 27 
years old, so we need to make sure that people, I don't want to 
say floundering, but they want to look for better opportunities 
and livable wages in the communities.
    The apprenticeship system is to both unionize and merit-
based apprenticeships here in Colorado offer great 
opportunities so that they don't have to stop earning and get a 
credential at the same time.
    Mr. Pocan. And let me ask you a quick followup to something 
kind of related, trade adjustment assistance. Can you talk a 
little bit more about that because in our area I know that I 
still you know even since I've been in Congress, I'm still 
watching companies go overseas or south of the border, and 
we're still having some workers who are displaced out of that?
    Can you talk a bit more about no matter what the job loss 
is, how we can try to make trade adjustments assistance, what 
we could add to this bill in that area?
    Mr. Barela. For Colorado, what a great question as far as 
we go through coal disruption and the closing of our coal 
plants, our coal mines. If we could look at the trade 
adjustment model to in this particular case, the coal industry.
    And I think one of your previous colleagues asked about the 
fossil fuel industry. How do we take care of those workers who 
are probably in primary jobs in their communities, and help 
with transitioning from those jobs into jobs in those 
communities that pay at or close to that rate?
    And so we could take the trade adjustment model and make 
sure that we look at them holistically. In Colorado we're using 
State and some WIOA funds to do it now as we plan for that, but 
there are not a lot of resources to deal with those huge 
impacts not only to the workers, but the tax revenue that those 
industries provide to the communities to support them is going 
to be something that we struggle with.
    Here it's the coal industry, but because of technology the 
disruption will happen in many industries, and so we need to be 
prepared. What is the package that best serves not only the 
employer, but the worker and the community that's left behind 
from those disruptions?
    Mr. Pocan. Thank you. And Ms. Wu since you brought up the 
comment about at the table, any thoughts on how we can help 
bring labor to the table to try to help improve in this area as 
well?
    Ms. Wu. Well I know that's an important place where labor's 
voice is heard is at the workforce boards. And you know as 
technology is changing workplaces it's important to hear what 
worker's perspective is there because they're the ones doing 
the job every day.
    They have a lot of insights about how technology can be 
used efficiently and well, and you know I think it's important 
to bring everyone into the conversation and help workers see 
the opportunities for them as well as address the concerns they 
may have.
    Mr. Pocan. Great thank you. Madam Chair I'll yield back my 
two seconds.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you appreciate it. And now we'll 
go forward with Ms. Bonamici the very patient Ms. Bonamici.
    Ms. Bonamici. Thank you so much Chair Wilson, Chair Scott, 
Ranking Member Foxx and thank so much to our witnesses. Just to 
briefly followup on that conversation we were having about the 
need for partnerships and meeting local demand, I have a great 
agriculture of science example.
    Here in northwest Oregon where Yamhill Carlton High School 
students, typically FFA members have classes in viniculture. 
It's probably the only vineyard in the country planted and 
managed by high school students. They can get credit at 
Chemeketa Community College and they're ready to work in the 
wine industry which is a big part of the economy and part of 
the district I represent.
    So I want to move on, and you know recognize that as we 
have in the comments today that the economic consequences of 
COVID-19 and the pandemic have been kind of a stark reminder of 
the problems of consistently underfunding our Nation's 
workforce system.
    We do not have adequate pathways now and supportive 
services for displaced workers to help them access probably the 
upskilling and reskilling opportunities, and at the same time 
entire sectors of our economy like manufacturing and energy are 
on the brink of significant transformation that will create new 
good-paying jobs.
    In fact, I'm also in a science Committee hearing with 
Secretary Granholm today talking about these workforce issues 
with the energy transition. So we need to make sure that those 
have been affected by structural changes in our economy have 
access to transition assistance programs, investments in 
workforce training and economic support, development support.
    So Mr. Barela I appreciated your reference to Colorado's 
Just Transition Office. I'm currently working on a bill to 
establish a national economic transition office which is 
modeled on Colorado's efforts that will help scale up and 
target Federal economic and workforce development assistance to 
communities and workers beginning with the coal economy.
    So in my work on this legislation I've heard from many in 
the workforce system about the strengths of the trade 
adjustment assistance program, which of course Mr. Pocan just 
mentioned for training and income support, but Mr. Barela, 
should displaced workers receive different benefits based on 
the reason for their displacement, or do we need a model that 
serves as sort of a universal dislocated worker program, and 
how can this Committee expand WIOA benefits to serve more 
workers regardless of the cause of displacement?
    Mr. Barela. Representative great question and thank you for 
that. I do think that it should matter, the reason of the cause 
of displacement, but the package that's available to workers is 
robust enough for them to be successful transitioning in their 
communities.
    So many of what has happened is people realize that you 
know I'm getting back to the power generation. If there's a job 
somewhere else those workers are forced to move to where the 
jobs still exist, rather than look at opportunities to stay in 
their community that they chose to live with in Colorado.
    So I think you know you look at housing assistance, 
transportation assistance, support services, access to 
training. I know a lot of these unionized positions in the 
generation, power generation, you know if they have to move 
into another category or program and then they have to start 
back at that apprentice level, and it could take four or 5 
years to get back to the journeyman level and is to say power 
transmission.
    And so, I don't want to say wage guarantee, but the wage 
replacement to keep them whole as they're upskilling and moving 
to that new opportunity would be a great opportunity that we 
just can't resource through the dislocated worker program. So 
when you look at how the disruption is going to happen through 
industry after industry because of technology, it would be 
great to have a package that's universal to dislocated workers.
    Ms. Bonamici. Absolutely. And I don't want to cut you off, 
but I wanted to get in another question. We also need to 
consider strategies that help workers avoid displacement before 
it occurs. So for example, here in northwest Oregon, Oregon 
Manufacturing Innovation Center, also known as OMIC brings 
together industry leaders, Boeing, educational institutions 
including Portland Community College, Oregon Institute of 
Technology, Oregon State, Portland State.
    Together they're developing a registered apprenticeship 
program in advanced manufacturing. So Mr. Barela you talked 
about Colorado's efforts to secure more than 1,600 sector 
partnerships, so what are some of the best practices for sector 
partnerships that could be scaled at a national level, or 
codified when we reauthorize WIOA and how have they helped 
create career pathways and emerging industries to meet the 
needs of local businesses?
    Mr. Barela. I think I'll highlight the healthcare industry 
in looking at how it's really dependent on industry and 
business partners coming together at the table forgetting they 
may be competitors out in the real world and figure out how 
they meet critical talent needs collectively as an industry and 
getting them to the table and saying here are the critical 
skill shortages, but also maybe the occupational shortage.
    And then making sure that there are educational pipeline 
systems hearing them and creating programs that can meet their 
needs. And that's not stagnant. That has to be agile because we 
know those needs change very rapidly now. You know they're not 
5 and 10 years, they're 1 year and 2 year, and so that 
education pipeline system needs to be agile in listening to 
business and industry.
    Ms. Bonamici. Terrific. Thank you very much. And my time is 
expired, I yield back thank you Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. I remind my colleagues sorry 
our Chair of the Committee Dr. Foxx are you ready? Chairman 
Scott.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Barela we've heard a 
lot, you've mentioned I think in your testimony about the 
possibility of counter cyclical spending with Medicaid when 
poverty goes up, Medicaid spending goes up, SNAP benefits, 
unemployment benefits, and there's a recession should workforce 
training benefits be also on a counter cyclical basis?
    Mr. Barela. Thank you, Chairman Scott. What a great 
question. We're so reactive in the dislocated worker program 
and several of our Title I programs. It should be made 
available. I don't know I think if there could be a trust fund 
like we have with the unemployment insurance system that's 
available for states, localities to take advantage of.
    When there is a surprise and economic downturn that's 
acute, so that we have resources to serve and maybe prevent the 
dislocation. I do feel when people stay attached to employment 
if it's through upskilling and reskilling, and working with the 
employer, we're much better off.
    And so I do think it should be that funding formula needs 
to be looked at so that local workforce boards, State workforce 
councils have access to that fund when they need it, not 
waiting for the bulk of that resource to be seen 2 years out 
when you may not need it.
    Mr. Scott. Yes, we keep hearing that we're serving about 
one-third of the people that actually need assistance. Does 
that mean we're serving one-third of the people at the full 
cost of service? Or we're serving everybody in about one-third 
of what we ought to be spending on each one?
    Mr. Barela. Great question. You know I think I mentioned in 
2019 Colorado had about 77,000 people use the public workforce 
system. Only 7,000 of those individuals received intensive 
services or training, or upskilling.
    The far majority of those are just getting career coaching 
and navigation. So we could do so much better to be responsive 
to the critical skill shortages we have if we could upskill 
people when they're dislocated, or before they're dislocated. 
So it's a very good question.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you. Mr. Sigelman. The first step I think 
is getting on the vendor's list to provide services. If you're 
on the vendor's list how does the program actually target the 
job training to where it's needed? If everybody wants to be a 
dental assistant, but the area needs welders, how does that 
work?
    Mr. Sigelman. Representative Scott I'm so glad you asked 
that question because it's a critical and urgent problem right 
now with our eligible training provider lists. In most places 
there are no defined standards for what qualifies as fundable 
training.
    And so there's often a political process of what sectors 
are able to shout the loudest. We need, and I think this is an 
opportunity for Congress to act, in creating rigorous standards 
to make sure that the training that we fund aligns to jobs that 
are in demand, that are in demand locally, because jobs that 
are maybe in demand in one part of the State may not be 
elsewhere.
    That they are also vetting that they are teaching the 
skills that differentiate people for those jobs, and that those 
are jobs that are good jobs, that pay well and provide people 
with upward mobility from there.
    Mr. Scott. Well we thought that's what we were doing when 
we funded and had the local board and didn't tell them what to 
do, that I guess we need to do a little more work on that. But 
in terms of skills how do what are called soft skills, how do 
they fit into the program?
    Mr. Sigelman. They're very important and I think they need 
to be part of every kind of training program that we do. Just 
teaching somebody how to code, or how to weld isn't enough to 
get them a job. In the 21st Century economy jobs blend skills. 
Our research shows the new foundational skills that are cross-
cutting across most kinds of jobs in the 21st Century economy, 
and they include not only technical skills, but also human 
skills, like creativity and ability to communicate.
    They include data skills and digital skills as has been 
pointed out earlier in the hearing, and of course also business 
skills. We're finding there are certain business skills like 
project management whether you're a nurse case manager, or 
whether you're in construction, or whether you're in IT. Those 
are sets of skills which are broadly needed.
    We need to make sure that students have the full package, 
that our workforce training integrates those foundational 
skills alongside technical training.
    Mr. Scott. Are people that provide those kinds of skills, 
are generally found on the vendor lists?
    Mr. Sigelman. I think the vendor lists have a very wide 
array of providers. Some of them are doing really excellent 
work.
    Mr. Scott. I mean if you have a provider of soft skills, is 
it likely that they could be providing those services in the 
community?
    Mr. Sigelman. I'm sure they're provided. I would want to 
make sure that those soft skills are being provided alongside 
hard skills. If somebody just takes a course in communications, 
but they still don't have the technical skills, it's going to 
be tricky. The 21st Century economy industry needs are both 
that as valuable as foundational skills are, people also need 
to be able to have the technical skills that enable them to be 
productive on the job on Day 1.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you. Representative 
Mrvan.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Chairwoman. First, I'd like to extend 
my thanks to Chairwoman Wilson and Ranking Member Murphy for 
allowing me to participate in today's hearing as a non-
Subcommittee Member. I would also like to extend my thanks to 
Subcommittee and to staff for recognizing the workforce 
development initiatives taken in the State of Indiana and 
providing the opportunity for Mr. McGrew to testify today.
    As a representative from Indiana's First congressional 
District, I am proud that Indiana with the leadership of 
Governor Holcomb and Mr. McGrew have demonstrated the 
incredible value of innovative and effective workforce 
development programs with proven results.
    As we toward the end of the hearing I want to ask Mr. 
McGrew are there any other successful Indiana actions you would 
like to highlight? And, if not already discussed, what Federal 
actions can be taken to support your initiatives and to allow 
other states to follow your example?
    Mr. McGrew. Thank you Representative Mrvan. You know I 
think one of the things that we continue to try to do is 
connect employers to you know, and that has been one thing that 
has come up time and time again today is how we're going about 
doing those things.
    I previously mentioned the UI data project that we're 
working on to provide direct targeted information to our UI 
clients on educational opportunities, as well as job 
opportunities to fit their needs. And today we're also 
launching an employer connector tool for our career in tech ed 
program.
    The workforce cabinet also serves as the state's eligible 
Perkins recipient, so we direct all of the career and technical 
education activity throughout the State, and so we provide 
opportunities for our high school students to opt into sharing 
their contact information with employers.
    And so we're using that information that we have to get 
that out and of course directly to our employer communities. So 
we think that will help alleviate some of those you know issues 
that employers are dealing with, especially as we come into 
better alignment for our CTE programs with our local labor 
market needs.
    So we're very excited about that. I'd also say looking 
outside of government for work and activity that's being done, 
I serve on our State Chamber of Commerce as New Institute for 
Workforce Excellence board, and they are working to identify 
not only State and Federal resources that are available to 
employers to work on talent attraction, talent development, 
talent recruitment, but also what is happening at a local 
level.
    So whether or not local chambers have programs or county 
community foundations have programs, so I think looking outside 
of the system for support is another way that we can really 
leverage things and work better together.
    Mr. Mrvan. I thank you very much. And my followup question 
is coming from the First District obviously labor is extremely 
important, also labor unions, but my question is what the State 
of Indiana is, and any of you might want to add to this, on 
manufacturing and making sure we bring workers along to the 
next generation of manufacturing and the renewable energies 
exactly if we could just have your view of that Mr. McGrew what 
we're doing in Indiana.
    Mr. McGrew. Yes. So I think one exciting opportunity that 
we have is our smart manufacturing grants that we're providing 
employers to help transition to new technologies. With that 
comes obviously the reskilling, and upskilling of incumbent 
workers to meet those new technological needs.
    So I think with our employer training grant, and the fact 
that it can be used for incumbent workers provided there is a 
wage gain, that the employee sees as important, but I also 
think in redesigning and using employers to really look at our 
community college system, and our high school career and tech 
ed system to make sure that we have the skills that are going 
to be needed once those graduates complete the program in two 
or 3 years really fit with where technology is going.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you very much. And I thank the 
Subcommittee and at this time I'd like to yield back my time.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you. Thank you for visiting us 
today. I don't believe we have any other Members questioning 
OK. I'll remind my colleagues that pursuant to Committee 
practice materials for submission of the hearing record must be 
submitted to the Committee Clerk within 14 days following the 
last day of the hearing.
    So by close of business on June 10, 2021, preferably in 
Microsoft Word format. The materials submitted must address the 
subject matter of the hearing. Only a Member of the 
Subcommittee, or an invited witness may submit materials for 
inclusion in the hearing record.
    Documents are limited to 50 pages each. Documents longer 
than 50 pages will be incorporated into the record by way of an 
internet link that you must provide to the Committee Clerk 
within the required timeframe.
    But please recognize that in the future that link may no 
longer work. Pursuant to House rules and regulations, items for 
the record must be submitted to the Clerk electronically by 
email submissions to [email protected].
    Again, I want to thank these amazing witnesses for their 
participation today. Great information. You have given us a 
path forward and we thank you. Members of the Subcommittee may 
have additional questions for you, and we ask the witnesses to 
please respond to those questions in writing.
    The hearing record will be held open for 14 days in order 
to receive those responses. I remind my colleagues that 
pursuant to Committee practice when there's questions for the 
hearing record, must be submitted to the Majority Committee 
Staff or Committee Clerk within 7 days. The questions submitted 
must address the subject matter of the hearing.
    I now recognize the distinguished Member of the full 
meeting for a closing statement, Dr. Foxx.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you Chairwoman Wilson I appreciate that 
very much. And again I thank the witnesses for sharing their 
perspectives on how our workforce system can be better prepared 
for the 21st Century skill-based economy.
    I note that most of the other Members have left the hearing 
and that's fine with me because I want to make a little speech 
that they've all heard before, and I apologize to the 
Chairwoman and to the Chair of the Committee.
    We've invested billions of dollars from hard-working 
taxpayers into the workforce system, but it's clear that the 
system is not effectively meeting the needs of workers or 
employers across the country leading to a vast and growing 
skills gap, and the situation that we have described today.
    And I want to bring up something particularly to our panel 
Members that I think leads to this and leads to it 
significantly. I read all of your testimonies yesterday and 
last evening, and over and over and over in your testimony and 
today you have used what I call the T word, training.
    I believe that a big part of the problem that we have in 
our country is the fact that we have segregated and divided our 
workforce into two different groups, and I've listened very 
carefully today to your comments. I've noted at no point did we 
talk about people with baccalaureate degrees who may be out of 
work and may need upskilling or reskilling.
    You know I'm an English major. I was an English major went 
on and got two degrees beyond that, but probably if I weren't 
in the Congress I might need upskilling, particularly in the 
use of computers, but we didn't talk about that.
    So what we've been talking about primarily today are the 70 
percent of the people who don't have baccalaureate degrees. And 
I think that you've contradicted yourself in several places, 
and I don't mean to be critical, I want to raise your 
awareness.
    You keep talking about training, but Mr. Sigelman you 
particularly said we need people to have human skills, we need 
people with awareness skills, we need people with project 
management skills. Well the only thing I remember from my 
doctoral program is that you train dogs, and you educate 
people.
    And I think that what we've so much talked about today is 
having people learn specific kinds of skills that aren't 
necessarily ability to be upskilled or to be reskilled because 
we're not talking about the kind of things that will help them 
learn over and over and over again.
    And so I'm very, very concerned about that. And I would 
like to urge you all to look at all of your literature and say 
should we be talking about education where we think with 
education, certainly I think all of us feel that way, we are 
helping the whole person learn, and learn throughout their 
lives.
    I'm a big believer in continuing education and lifelong 
learning, so I really want to urge you to do that because I 
think it's a great issue. I want to associate myself also with 
the comments that Chairman Scott made in his comments where he 
talked about how we tried in WIOA to give a lot of local 
control, and yet I think again Mr. Sigelman you talked about 
the fact that you find in so many cases people are not offering 
the skills that are needed for the 21st Century jobs, but 
what's available now.
    So I think we have to look very carefully, and I don't 
think we've got enough feedback on this today on how we balance 
accountability with local control. We push local control a lot, 
but we have to have accountability, or we're pouring money down 
a rat hole.
    And we would be seeing better results in terms of where our 
workforce is now if we were able to balance those two things I 
think better. And I do appreciate the fact that we've talked 
about removing obstacles. I think we have to do that. We have 
to use all the tools at our disposal. I did notice some of the 
witnesses jotting down the $5,250.00 tax deduction for the 
private sector, which made me believe that all the witnesses 
understood that or understood the $5,250.00 that can be used.
    And I think it's very important that we do that. I think 
this was a great conversation today. It brought out a lot of 
issues that I think we need to be dealing with as we look to 
the reauthorization. I think we have a lot better understanding 
of what the needs are going to be in the 21st Century, but I do 
urge we ourselves on the Committee, and those of you out there 
doing the work that you're doing, to rethink how you talk about 
these things.
    Because if we want to get people to stay in the education 
system, which is what it is, or come back into the education 
system, whether they left at the end of high school, or after 
some community college, or even after baccalaureate degree, or 
even after a master's degree, we've got to talk about treating 
these people with dignity.
    And I don't think we talk about dignity when you talk about 
training. That's my point. If you understand that we want to 
talk about education and workforce development, and I think 
that's so important. So I want to urge you to do that, and 
again I want to thank the Chairwoman and the Chairman of the 
Committee for helping put together a good bipartisan panel 
today and hearing and with that Madam Chairman I yield back.
    Chairwoman Wilson. Thank you, Dr. Foxx. I now recognize 
myself for the purpose of making my closing statement. Thank 
you again to our witnesses for your testimony and for guiding 
today's discussion on the need to help workers recover from 
displacement, navigate future changes in employment, and access 
lifelong learning opportunities.
    Today we affirmed WIOA's proven track record of supporting 
workers who have lost their jobs, whether it is due to 
automation, climate change, or global pandemic. These programs 
are among the best tools that we have to ensure that displaced 
workers can get the skills and support they need to build more 
rewarding careers.
    This bipartisan reauthorization is an opportunity for 
Congress to realize the full potential of WIOA's program for 
both workers and employers. That means addressing the current 
underfunding of training programs, including individual 
training accounts. And it means making the serious investment 
in workforce development that our competitors in other 
industrialized economies have made for decades.
    It means ensuring the workforce system has the necessary 
data to help workers leverage the skills they already have so 
that programs can serve people more rapidly, less expensively, 
and with greater long-term success.
    It also means expanding comprehensive support to help 
dislocated workers find new and rewarding career pathways, even 
beyond the pandemic. Most important it means prioritizing 
investment in lifelong learning and career support so that 
workers can avoid being displaced without the skills required 
to transition to better jobs.
    I look forward to working with my colleagues on this 
Committee to pass a WIOA reauthorization that not only helps 
workers recover from displacement, but also prepares them to 
thrive, in a changing economy for years to come.
    If there's no further business before this Committee 
without objection this Subcommittee stands adjourned.
    [Question submitted for the record and the response by 
Mr. McGrew follow:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    [Whereupon, at 2:49 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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