A successful workforce development system must match employees to business needs. The public workforce system is the definitive source of labor market information, and this information should be the foundation of strategic plans and activities at the local level. A demand-driven system can enable trainers and job placement specialists to maximize the efficient allocation of resources and make quick changes in their strategies to meet labor market demands. The workforce system should strive to meet these goals whether the labor pool includes high school graduates, community college students, post-graduate unemployed persons, or prisoners in training programs.

This requires workforce development professionals to quickly shift gears to prepare and retrain jobseekers for emerging industries and occupations. One-Stop Career Center personnel are charged with convening training academies, community colleges, four-year colleges, universities, and other vocational training providers to tailor workforce solutions for business. Training and placement services should target positions which are in demand in industries offering jobs with family-sustaining wages and career advancement opportunities. Customized training services, such as on-the-job, industry-specific, and school-to-career tracking, need to be available to businesses of all sizes.

For their part, business leaders must ensure that the entire spectrum of training and education providers – from nonprofit groups to faith-based organizations and community colleges to universities‚ – is aware of the current and future needs of the local labor market. When businesses determine the skills they need in their workplaces, they can collaborate with WIBs and One-Stops to ensure that such skills are incorporated into training offered through the public workforce system. Business leaders can optimize outcomes by establishing industry standards for training, choosing the best trainers, and holding the system accountable for meeting performance standards.

One-Stop Career Centers are challenged to continually improve and expand their range of services to extend beyond examination of the workforce development aspects of local companies in order to recognize and assist them in addressing a wider range of issues that may prevent businesses from growing and remaining viable. In some cases, these efforts can result in new or retooled employment opportunities.

Policymakers should have an active role in facilitating market-driven systems. State and local officials can persuade local businesses to participate in planning and evaluation processes. Incentives such as tax benefits for public and private providers could encourage coordination of services and linkages with educational and vocational training schools.

Program flexibility and coordination between public and private providers can establish a framework to allow One-Stop systems and other job placement programs to tailor their services for local businesses and jobseekers, while meeting economic development needs in a rapidly changing environment. Under the auspices of Project RIO in Texas, for instance, corrections officials coordinate with the state education agency and the state workforce commission to ensure that institutional training and curricula reflect the most current needs of the labor market. As a result, people leaving incarceration are prepared to immediately assume positions in the local workforce.