Cochran & Shaheen Introduce On-The-Job Training Bill

Press Release

U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today joined Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in introducing legislation to expand and strengthen On-the-Job Training (OJT) programs, much like those used in Mississippi to prepare workers for the changing job market.

The On-the-Job Training Act of 2010 would authorize the U.S. Department of Labor to award grants to fund local OJT programs. These grants would provide state and local workforce boards with resources to recruit employers and develop OJT programs. OJT programs were authorized in the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, but they are not supported with a grant program.

The Shaheen-Cochran legislation is intended to broaden the use of OJT programs throughout the country. Mississippi currently leads other states in utilizing OJT. The state used OJT to train almost 5,000 workers in 2009, according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES).

"The strength of our economic recovery will depend on the ability of the unemployed to adapt to a changing job market. On-the-job training has been effective in Mississippi, with thousands of workers trained and new economic activity generated because of the availability of a well-prepared workforce. This legislation would broaden the appeal of this successful, but under-utilized, job training model," Cochran said.

"The majority of the jobs that have been lost as a result of the economic crisis are not going to come back, and we need to do everything we can to get these unemployed Americans the new skills they need to rejoin the workforce," said Shaheen. "On-the-job training is the most effective way to pair unemployed workers with employers, and I urge my colleagues to support these programs so that we can help Americans who need jobs get back to work."

Through OJT programs, willing employers sign a contract with the local workforce board, agreeing to hire workers that need training. In exchange, the workforce board provides a training subsidy to the employer equal to a percentage of the wage paid to the employee, typically about 50 percent.

MDES supported the introduction of the Senate legislation in a letter to Cochran that highlighted the success of the program in Mississippi.

"The OJT program is embraced by Mississippi employers," MDES Executive Director Les Range wrote Cochran. "We believe that employers throughout the country would embrace it if given the chance to do so. We have recognized the need for businesses to grow and expand to meet the ever-changing needs of a global economy. OJT makes that easier for businesses to do by assigning them with the costs of training or re-training for new technology. It also meets the needs of the state's workforce by expanding their skills to improve their marketability."

Range called the state's commitment to OJT a "key factor that has helped Mississippi attract large employers such as G.E., Severstal, Nissan and Toyota. We view OJT not only as a tool to prepare our workforce for twenty-first century jobs, but also as an economic development tool to entice those jobs to our state."

In 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, 80 percent of OJT participants were still employed at their training sites or in other jobs nine months after having finished the program. However, the program could be more widely used. In 2008, of the nearly 150,000 federally-funded workforce development trainees, less than 1 percent participated in on-the-job training. According to the Labor Department, Mississippi's use of OJT accounted for 27.4 percent of all OJT funding spent nationally in 2009.

In addition to the MDES, the Shaheen-Cochran measure is supported by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Center for American Progress, CLASP, the Georgia Department of Labor, Jobs for the Future, National Association of Workforce Boards, National Skills Coalition, New Hampshire Employment Security, New Hampshire Division of Resources and Economic Development and Wider Opportunities for Women.

Source