Understanding Boston:
Workforce Development
Building a jobs pipeline for Greater Boston and Massachusetts is crucial to the economic future and vitality of the city and region—and, as such, Workforce Development is a major focus of the Boston Foundation’s civic leadership activities.
While Massachusetts has the most highly educated population in the country, the state struggles with a low literacy rate and a labor force that hasn’t grown at all since 2000. Massachusetts was the only state in the nation to see its labor force decline between 2003 and 2005, with many talented young workers leaving the state to work in more affordable parts of the country.
The Boston Foundation encourages research and dialogue about the state’s labor supply and coordinates the SkillWorks initiative, the most ambitious workforce development initiative in Boston’s history.
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Workforce Development Spotlight:
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SkillWorks In 2000 the Boston Foundation convened a group of public and private investors to begin planning an ambitious workforce development initiative. Fully launched in 2003, the SkillWorks initiative is a five-year, $15 million partnership among 14 local and national funders, including the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition to its annual $500,000 contribution, the Boston Foundation coordinates what has become the largest and most ambitiou |  |
Indicators-related research:
October
08, 2009
January
01, 2009
October
10, 2008 | | Selected grants:
June
10, 2010
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10, 2010
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10, 2010 |
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Recent Workforce Development Reports:
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Conventional wisdom may relegate manufacturing to the ash heap of earlier centuries, but new research undertaken by the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University establishes not only the importance of manufacturing as a potent part of the regional economy but its role as a catalyst for future growth.
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The health of Greater Boston's economy depends on a dynamic labor force. Our knowledge-based industries will succeed over the long term only with an educated work force committed to the Boston region. Greater Boston brings outstanding resources to this challenge. Our cluster of institutions of higher education serves as a cornerstone of the economy. We have an opportunity to cpaitalize even further on this strength. By working together, business and higher education can increase the likelihood that graduates will remain in the region and contribute to the vitality of the area's economy.
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Workforce Development Forums:
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July
15, 2008
Business and industry leaders joined representatives of the nonprofit and public policy sectors for a Boston FoundationUnderstanding Boston forum on July 15th. The occasion was the release of an assumption-shattering report on the current and future state of manufacturing in Massachusetts.
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January
31, 2007
The good news didn’t take long to impart to a crowd of more than 200 people who came to the Boston Foundation on January 31st for a fascinating forum on building a “jobs pipeline” for Massachusetts. Andrew Sum, Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies and an author of a report called Mass Economy: the Labor Supply and Our Economic Future, shared some of his alarming conclusions. “The good news is that Massachusetts has the most highly educated population in the country,” he said, “with 32.9% possessing a bachelor’s or higher degree. We also have a high literacy rate.”
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June
29, 2006
Hundreds of people—from workers to representatives of unions, government and nonprofits—gathered at Roxbury Community College on June 29th to hear Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates speak about their commitment to workforce development. It was the first forum at which all major candidates for governor appeared.
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