O*NET
in Action: Pennsylvania
"Skills Maps for Industry Clusters"
Lancaster County Workforce Investment
Board
Summary
In Pennsylvania, the Lancaster County
Workforce Investment Board uses O*NET information in research and service
delivery activities designed to support economic development efforts in
the County. The Board uses an industry clusters model as the focal
point of its cooperation with the economic development community.
After defining the industry clusters, the primary occupations are profiled
and a Skills Map is developed. O*NET information is used in this
process. The Skills Map provides a planning tool that has many uses
for the industry and for educators and other providers of skill training.
How is O*NET being used?
Cooperation with the economic development
community is one of the mandates of the Workforce Investment Act that the
Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board takes seriously. A recipient
of U.S. Department of Labor funding for a Community Audit Project, the
Lancaster Board uses a statistical protocol to analyze industry clusters
and identify the ones that have a local competitive advantage, are growing,
and offer good jobs for County residents. Profiles of promising occupations
are developed, career ladders are identified, and from these profiles,
Skills Maps are drawn up for each of the priority clusters. Career ladders
are identified by analyzing statewide occupational information and interviewing
industry representatives and staff in training institutions that support
skill development in those occupations. The process is fluid, involving
long-term dialogue with the particular industry.
O*NET is used in developing the profiles,
providing extensive information about skills and knowledge requirements
of occupations in each cluster. Information for all occupations and
the various career ladders in the cluster can then be analyzed to identify
common skills and attributes, as well as those unique to a particular occupation
or career ladder. The resulting Skills Map is a helpful way to involve
the education community in addressing skills gaps, taking a more systemic
approach to the identification of the skill needs of industry.
The use of industry clusters extends
to planning for service delivery. The Lancaster Board and its local one-stop,
the Lancaster County CareerLink, tie expressed industry needs for workers
to career ladders through a variety of sectoral employment initiatives.
Often, this requires a career information component that allows incumbent
and dislocated workers to explore many careers and the levels of skill
development needed to reach those goals. O*NET is one of many resources
integrated into this career development process.
Who is your target population?
Educators, training providers, and
economic and workforce development professionals, as well as one-stop personnel
and clients seeking employment or training, all benefit from the knowledge
obtained from cluster work and skill mapping.
What kind of results is O*NET
helping you to achieve?
Industry clusters and their Skills
Maps are useful planning tools for industry and economic development personnel,
as well as in education and training. They also help local Boards
and one-stops target their investment and avoid “reinventing the wheel.”
What are the related program initiatives?
As indicated above, there is a direct
relationship between the research that comes out of this Project and the
service delivery initiatives that flow from it. Health care was the
first major sectoral employment initiative that grew out of the cluster
work. The data related to occupations, career ladders, and skills
helped to focus a $500,000+ media campaign, the creation of new preparatory
programs for entry-level health care workers, and a major initiative directed
toward the needs of incumbent workers for skill training to advance to
better jobs. A similar effort is now underway for the construction
industry with the data showing program planners the way.
Is your product, program or service
available for others to use?
As a service to other Boards, the
Lancaster County Board offers industry cluster analysis on a low cost,
fee-for-service basis. Occupational profiles and skill mapping are
an extension of the cluster analysis package and can be purchased as an
add-on at a reasonable price.
What other strategies make your
product, program or service successful?
One of the keys to the success of
this effort is the cooperation the Project receives from the Center for
Workforce Information and Analysis at the PA Department of Labor and Industry.
The Center has worked with Project staff to identify mutually beneficial
tools that make data accessible within the bounds of confidentiality limits.
Contact
Scott Sheely, Executive Director
Lancaster County Workforce Investment
Board
313 W. Liberty St., Suite 114
Lancaster, PA 17603
717-735-0333
ssheely@paonline.com
http://www.jobs4lancaster.com (available
as of August 2002)
O*NET in Action stories illustrate
how the O*NET database is used at the state or local level. References
to particular products, programs or systems are not intended as an endorsement
by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
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