Successfully Entering the Workforce - Obama Foundation
Ensuring that all young people have the tools and opportunities to enter the workforce successfully is a goal we must strive to reach. Where there are barriers to participation, we should seek to remove them. Where there are too few opportunities, we should seek to expand them to ensure that all young Americans have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Implement Broad Growth and Opportunity Agenda
Increase Entry-Level Job, Mentorship, Job Training, and Apprenticeship Options
Help Grow and Improve Summer Jobs Initiatives
Employers in high-demand sectors can reduce training costs by working with post-secondary education institutions to ensure their curriculum prepares students to be work-ready from day one of employment.
Offering on-the-job training – including pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, job shadowing, and internship programs for all youth – allows workers and employers to share the burden of training costs along with the returns of working.
Providing low-cost childcare and transportation benefits and services is essential to engaging low-income workers in the workforce.
Communities that use data to understand future employment needs in high-demand career sectors will be better positioned to ensure post-secondary programs meet the needs that will drive economic growth.
City officials should be strong advocates on behalf of underserved populations, using their influence and leverage to insist on fair and equal access to workforce development programs. They can also demand accountability for outcomes and results by pushing for performance management efforts that reward success in working with traditionally underserved communities, and either strengthen or discontinue contracts with underperforming providers.
Family Strengthening & Support as a 2Gen Platform