research proposal on skill development and employment

Building America’s Job Skills with Effective Workforce Programs: A Training Strategy to Raise Wages and Increase Work Opportunities

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Michael greenstone and michael greenstone nonresident senior fellow - economic studies , the hamilton project adam looney adam looney visiting fellow - economic studies.

November 30, 2011

INTRODUCTION

For most of American history, opportunities in the job market have enabled each generation to achieve a higher standard of living for themselves and their families than their parents enjoyed. Innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit fueled robust employment growth, a solid educational system readied workers to take advantage of employment opportunities, and a broad array of safety-net programs helped those who stumbled along the way get back on their feet.

More recently, rapid technological changes and increasing global competition have continued to deliver great economic benefits to Americans, through lower prices for consumer goods or advances in health care that prolong our lives or improvements in the quality and capabilities of everyday products. But this recent wave of change has also left some workers behind, particularly less-skilled workers, by making it more difficult for them to find good job opportunities and by eroding their wages on the job. For instance, recent research by The Hamilton Project shows that over the past four decades the annual earnings of the median man with only a high school diploma have declined by 46 percent. Not since this country has maintained records has such a large group of Americans experienced a similar prolonged period of declining real earnings.

The Great Recession of 2007–2009 exacerbated many of these long-term trends. Although the recession affected all Americans, disadvantaged workers with less education and fewer job-related skills experienced particularly high rates of job loss during this period, and many remain unemployed today. For instance, in 2010 the unemployment rate for people over the age of twenty-five without a high school diploma was 14.9 percent.

Among those who lost jobs in the recession are seven million workers who were displaced from long-term jobs. On average, these displaced workers will be reemployed at lower wages than at their previous jobs; the average such worker can expect to lose roughly $112,000 in earnings over the remainder of her career.

The Hamilton Project believes that long-term prosperity is achieved not just through economic growth, but also through broad participation in that growth. In today’s economy, access to educational and skill-development opportunities is a crucial component of efforts to facilitate that broad participation. Improving traditional education is an obvious first step in preparing workers for well-paid jobs, and The Hamilton Project has examined proposals aimed at raising educational attainment and improving the quality of primary, secondary, and postsecondary education.

However, other forms of workforce development must also play an important role. This paper presents our findings on the importance of developing workers’ skills through training and workforce development programs, and examines newly available evidence on policies that boost job opportunities and wages. In a dynamic economy, it is impractical to stand still and wait for old opportunities to reemerge. Rather, workers can take action and gain new and practical skills to improve their reemployment opportunities and find jobs more quickly, or to improve the quality of their jobs and the level of pay they receive. Training programs offer a unique opportunity to improve the well-being of less-skilled and displaced workers.

As the United States continues its economic recovery, there is tremendous urgency to find model training programs that work and can be leveraged more broadly to put Americans back to work. There is also mounting pressure to find long-term solutions to the nation’s growing economic inequality, and to create opportunities for more Americans to participate in the country’s future economic growth. For these reasons, a renewed focus on training is particularly relevant today.

To be sure, worker training is a broad category, encompassing short-term vocational classes run by training providers, certification and technical classes at community colleges, career-oriented classes in secondary schools, apprenticeship programs, and a variety of other programs and institutions that provide workers with job-specific skills.

In the United States, the private sector plays a large role in training, but targets many of these efforts toward workers who already have better skills and better jobs. The federal government plays a major role in training the disadvantaged and displaced, funding many major programs through the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Education (ED); it also funds the complementary and valuable task of providing reemployment services.

Training in and of itself is not a panacea for all that ails the labor market. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to training: each worker has different strengths and local employers have different needs. Therefore, training programs must be tailored to fit the specific needs of a community based on available jobs. Moreover, training may not be appropriate in every circumstance and might be only one component of a broader effort to address the skill deficits that some workers face. For these reasons, many observers have become frustrated that some existing training programs are unable to successfully address the significant issues these workers face and have failed to adapt effectively to the changing economy.

At a time when the need for skill development is great, there are important lessons to be learned from a new and promising body of research that has emerged in only the past five to ten years that has identified successful programs that match workers to jobs and that raise their earnings.

Findings from recent experimental evaluations of programs operated by states and nonprofit organizations, and careful studies of community colleges suggest that employment-focused programs, often developed in cooperation and collaboration with employer or industry partners, have been tremendously successful, producing returns for workers that far exceed the social cost of the programs.

After exploring the evidence on effective training programs, The Hamilton Project proposes two general principles that can guide policy-makers in improving training programs to aid American workers.

1. Training funds should be directed to evidence-backed programs and to workers who can benefit from those programs. Recent research has identified some training programs as particularly effective at getting Americans to work, or back to work at higher wages. The available evidence suggests that the most effective programs closely match the type and intensity of training to the needs and circumstances of the workers. The lessons learned from these successful programs can help inform future choices on how to allocate training funding.

2. Training programs should directly engage employer and industry partners, or actively guide students to career specific training. Successful training programs often rely on input from or partnerships with employers and industry partners in order to direct trainees to invest in courses and fields of study relevant to available jobs. Without this type of collaboration, newly trained or retrained workers may find themselves without the skills needed by industry, skills that are required for long-lasting labor market success.

Two new Hamilton Project discussion papers present policy proposals that reflect these principles, and that are tailored to the needs of disadvantaged and displaced workers. Each proposal addresses the specific needs of its target population and builds on the evidence and experiences from existing effective programs.

In his 2011 Hamilton Project Policy Innovation Prize–winning paper, “Raising Job Quality and Skills for American Workers: Creating More-Effective Education and Workforce Development Systems in the States,” Harry J. Holzer of Georgetown University proposes developing sectoral training programs for disadvantaged workers that provide participants with the skills that employers demand by directly linking their education and training with the needs of the labor market.

In their 2011 Hamilton Project discussion paper, “Policies to Reduce High-Tenured Displaced Workers’ Earnings Losses Through Retraining,” Louis S. Jacobson of New Horizons Economic Research, Robert J. LaLonde of the University of Chicago, and Daniel G. Sullivan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago focus on the problem of retraining displaced workers who have experienced significant earnings losses. Their paper lays out a comprehensive set of reforms that starts with the establishment of a Displaced Worker Training program that provides grants for longer-term training and includes guidance, structures, and incentives to direct trainees and educators to the most relevant and timely instruction to meet labor-market needs.

Labor & Unemployment

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September 6, 2024

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How to Build a Successful Upskilling Program

• Susan R. Vroman
• Tiffany Danko

Employees say they want more training and development — but often struggle to identify which skills they’re looking for.

Upskilling is a longer-term investment in augmenting the knowledge, skills, and competencies that help employees advance their careers. When employees are offered and encouraged to take advantage of upskilling opportunities for their personal or professional growth, people metrics, such as employee engagement and retention, also go up. The problem is that too often, even the employees who say they want more training and development struggle to identify what they’re looking for. The authors offer three strategies to help organizational leaders identify the skills and competencies that employees will find valuable.

As the Covid pandemic accelerated how and where work got done, employee reskilling became a short-term survival strategy to fuel or sustain company growth . Companies found that investing in skills learning enabled both performance and reliability of their workers .

• Susan R. Vroman is a lecturer of management at Bentley University.  Her research interests include the impact leadership enactment has on organizational culture and employee engagement, with specific focus on supporting flexible work arrangements.  Prior to her academic career, Dr. Vroman worked for over 20 years as an organizational effectiveness and strategic human resource management executive and advisor. She continues this work in a consulting capacity.
• TD Tiffany Danko  is an adjunct associate professor at USC Bovard College and a captain in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. Her research focuses on leadership, as well as homeland security and emergency management concerns. 

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Skill Development Training Project Proposal Template

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Benefits of Skill Development Training Project Proposal Template

The Skill Development Training Project Proposal Template is designed to help you create a compelling proposal that highlights the benefits of your training program. Here are some of the benefits you can include in your proposal:

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Main Elements of Skill Development Training Project Proposal Template

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• Custom Statuses: Keep track of the progress of your training projects with two statuses - Open and Complete, ensuring clear visibility of the project's current stage.
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How to Use Project Proposal for Skill Development Training

If you're looking to propose a skill development training project, using a template can help streamline the process. Here are five steps to effectively use the Skill Development Training Project Proposal Template in ClickUp:

1. Define the purpose and objectives

Start by clearly defining the purpose of your skill development training project and the specific objectives you aim to achieve. This could be improving team communication, enhancing technical skills, or fostering leadership abilities. Clearly stating your goals will help guide the rest of your proposal.

Use the Goals feature in ClickUp to outline and articulate the purpose and objectives of your skill development training project.

2. Identify the target audience

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Utilize the custom fields in ClickUp to categorize and track the target audience for your skill development training project.

3. Develop a training plan

Create a detailed plan for your skill development training project. Outline the topics to be covered, the training methods to be used, and the timeline for each phase. Include any resources or materials that will be required, such as presentations, handouts, or online courses. A well-structured training plan will demonstrate your organization and preparedness.

Use the Board view in ClickUp to create tasks for each phase of the training plan and assign them to team members responsible for their execution.

4. Determine the budget and resources

Estimate the budget required for your skill development training project. Consider expenses such as trainers' fees, venue rentals, materials, and any additional resources needed. Be realistic and ensure that your budget aligns with your organization's financial capabilities. Additionally, identify the resources needed, such as training facilities, equipment, or software.

Utilize the custom fields in ClickUp to track and manage the budget and resources allocated to your skill development training project.

5. Craft a compelling proposal

Now that you have all the necessary information, it's time to put it together in a well-crafted proposal. Start with an executive summary that highlights the key points of your skill development training project. Then, provide a detailed overview of each section, including the purpose, objectives, target audience, training plan, budget, and resources. Use persuasive language and clearly communicate the benefits and value of the training to your organization.

Leverage the Docs feature in ClickUp to create a professional and visually appealing proposal document for your skill development training project.

Get Started with ClickUp's Skill Development Training Project Proposal Template

HR departments and training coordinators can use this Skill Development Training Project Proposal Template to streamline the process of proposing and implementing training programs for their organization.

First, hit "Get Free Solution" to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you'd like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to develop and propose skill development training programs:

• Use the Project Proposal View to outline the details of the training program, including goals, objectives, target audience, and proposed schedule.
• Use the Getting Started Guide View to provide a step-by-step guide for implementing the training program, including tasks for creating materials, scheduling trainers, and communicating with participants.
• Organize the training tasks into two different statuses: Open and Complete, to track progress and completion.
• Update the status of each task as it progresses to keep stakeholders informed.
• Assign responsible team members to each task to ensure accountability.
• Utilize comments and @mentions to facilitate collaboration and gather feedback.
• Monitor the progress of training tasks to ensure timely completion of the program.

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Proposal Writer Consultant (Retainers 3-5 positions)

Advertised on behalf of, type of contract :, starting date :.

01-Oct-2024

Application Deadline :

13-Sep-24 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Duration of initial contract :.

1 year, with possibility of extension up to 2 years

Time left :

Languages required :.

English  

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Through the regional office in Bangkok and several country and multi-country offices, UN Women builds on a long history of support to governments and women’s movements. UN Women’s programmes in Asia and the Pacific focus on ending violence against women; humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction; women’s economic empowerment and migration; governance, peace and security; gender and climate; gender statistics and HIV/AIDS. For more information about UN Women in Asia and the Pacific, please visit asiapacific.unwomen.org .

The Resource Mobilization (RM) and Partnerships team is one of the three functional teams within the External Relations Unit (covering regional RM and Partnerships, Advocacy and Communications) at UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (UN Women ROAP). The RM and Partnerships team focuses on building partnerships with both public and private sector partners, supporting country offices with their resource mobilization and donor engagement efforts, and building the capacity of country-level RM and partnerships focal points.

The RM and Partnerships team is looking for highly skilled proposal writer consultant(s) with a proven track record of developing high quality proposals for traditional donors to support grant development efforts of the regional office, country offices and programme presences, based on needs, to facilitate resource mobilization.

The consultant(s) will report to the Head of External Relations or hiring managers of country offices, who will be supported by the RM and Partnerships Coordinator as the point of contact for contract and payment issues.

Note: The service will be rendered on “on call” basis. UN Women does not warrant that the maximum of contract amount will be purchased during the term of the Agreement. While on retainer, there is no guarantee of work, and selected consultants retain the right to decline assignments based on their availability and expertise.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities/Scope of Work

In alignment with donor priorities and submission requirements, the consultant(s) will support UN Women ROAP, country offices and/or programme presences with drafting, editing, and finalizing competitive and high quality solicited and unsolicited proposals, concept notes and other materials for timely submission to major international donors such as, but not limited to: Australia (DFAT), EU, New Zealand (MFAT), Japan, United Kingdom and pooled funds such as the Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund.

In particular, the consultant(s) are expected to carry out the following tasks:

• Provide relevant analysis of the donor guidelines and templates to the team to guide the preparation of submissions and needed technical, administrative and financial inputs.
• Following UN Women’s technical guidance, manage the full cycle of proposal/concept note development, including: 
• Planning and requesting for the relevant contributions from the programmes, finance, administrative and partnerships teams as per the call’s requirements;
• Following up on the needed technical, financial or administrative inputs and reviews from the team to complete the application;
• Drafting the initial materials needed for the application for the technical team’s reviews;
• After UN Women’s review, reflecting feedback and consolidating the team’s various contributions towards the finalization of the application documents;
• Ensuring quality check and final consistency in regard to the donor language and requirements of the call for proposals;

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

Competencies

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 

Core Competencies: 

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues 
• Accountability 
• Creative Problem Solving 
• Effective Communication 
• Inclusive Collaboration 
• Stakeholder Engagement 
• Leading by Example 

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values  

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of UN Women and international development issues, particularly those related to gender and women’s empowerment.
• Sound knowledge of key international donors’ funding mechanisms and regulations, including, but not limited to Australia (DFAT), EU, New Zealand (MFAT), Japan, United Kingdom and pooled funds such as the Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund.
• Excellent writing skills in English: demonstrated track record in writing proposals securing six and seven figure funding from public sources.
• Strong understanding of programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and results-based management principles.
• Strong research capacity (mainly on internet); interpreting, analyzing, complex international development issues and representing such information in a clear and concise written manner.
• Ability to adhere to tight deadlines and manage multiple projects simultaneously while being autonomous.
• Ability to exercise discretion and maintain confidentiality.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Development Studies, Gender, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Project Management or a related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in proposal writing is required.
• Experience of proposal writing on gender-related issues is a strong asset.
• A proven track-record of successful proposals submitted to one or more of the following donors is required: Australia (DFAT), EU, New Zealand (MFAT), Japan, United Kingdom and/or pooled funds such as the Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund.
• Previous work experience with the UN, including UN Women, or other development agencies is an asset.
• Experience working on similar assignments in Asia and the Pacific will be considered an advantage.
• Fluency in English is required.

How to Apply:

• P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• An example of a successful proposal will be requested from shortlisted candidates.

Payments: Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of the agreed deliverables and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will be based on the agreed number of days worked within the indicated timeframes. Payments will be made upon submission of deliverables with the approval of the Head of External Relations or the hiring managers of country offices in case of engagement by country offices.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

 UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)