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Remarks Delivered by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
Job Corps STARS Initiative
Laurel, Maryland
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Thank you, Esther [Johnson, Job Corps National Director].
Welcome to the Woodland Job Corps Center!
Thank you for joining us as we kick off the Job Corps Speakers, Tutors, Achievement, Retention and Success (STARS) Initiative.
Before I begin, permit me to acknowledge a few special guests and those who make Job Corps a success:
- Dr. James Fielder, Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation;
- Our hardworking Job Corps national staff and its regional directors, center directors and center staff; and
- The renowned Earl C. Clements Job Corps Center Choir
I am pleased to join our special guests, our students and all of you as the Department of Labor inaugurates the Job Corps STARS Initiative.
Let me start by talking to you a little bit about the role of the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Labor Department ensures that workers work in a safe, healthy environment, that they are paid adequately and that their retirement is secure.
The Labor Department enforces labor laws designed to protect workers, and sponsors numerous programs designed to train workers for good-paying and promising careers.
A Department focus in recent years has been to increase the competitiveness of our workforce through many initiatives. We have good reasons for that newer focus, which I will discuss shortly.
To carry out its mission, the Department has 17,500 full-time employees and a budget of $60 billion. Five-sixths of this money goes to unemployment insurance, and $9.5 billion goes to training the U.S. workforce. The private sector, too, spends a great deal of money on worker training.
The Labor Department represents the entire U.S. workforce. Of the total workforce — the public and private sectors combined — 12.4 percent of workers are unionized. Of the private sector workforce alone, 7.8 percent of it is unionized. So the Department represents everyone — organized and unorganized.
The Department is responsible, too, for monitoring national employment trends. Recently the Department announced some great news: unemployment has fallen to 4.7 percent — a full percentage point lower than the unemployment rate of 5.7 percent in the decade of the 1990s.
In fact, since August 2003, America has created 5.7 million new jobs! And with 36 straight months of job growth, our economy is really on track.
The Job Corps is an important part of the Department. That is why we are working to ensure that our students get the most out of the education and training services that Job Corps provides.
Job Corps has already provided hope to more than two million young Americans since it was established four decades ago.
Today, almost 65,000 students train each year in 122 Job Corps centers in 48 states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Last September, I joined Job Corps as it celebrated 40 years of service to America. The Grand Finale Luncheon at the close of Job Corps' 40th anniversary conference marked a milestone in the history of Job Corps.
Today, too, marks a special moment in the program's history.
Today we launch a new approach to the Job Corps mission that will help Job Corps meet its historic objective — to help young Americans reduce barriers to employment.
The new STARS Initiative will attract motivational speakers to inspire students to pursue their educational and training goals. Then, tutors will be involved to strengthen the academics of students. Lastly, mentors will engage and track the progress of these promising young people.
It's a three-pronged approach that will help students acquire the language and math skills needed to perform jobs in the new economy. And preparing for those jobs is a real concern.
Our country is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy. This transition has created millions of new jobs in industries that did not even exist a generation ago. The majority of new jobs created require workers with higher skills and more education, so, by definition, they are good paying jobs.
The mismatch between the skills of some of our workers and the skills needed for these new jobs is called the "skills gap." To fight that skills gap, each of us must remain competitive by matching our talents with the needs of employers.
Now, the new jobs being created don't necessarily need workers with a 4-year college degree. There are many new jobs for workers with a 2-year degree from a community college or specialized training. That includes apprenticeships, which combine classroom and on-the-job training. In fact, apprenticeship programs are wonderful opportunities for workers to get highly marketable skills and invest in their futures. But today it's more important than ever before for workers to have some kind of education and job training beyond high school.
The Department's updated Occupational Outlook Handbook shows that the demand for skilled workers will be strong. By 2014, our country will need 4.9 million new workers in health-care related occupations.
We will also need 3.3 million workers in information technology, 2.1 million in financial services and 1.2 million more drivers for the transport of people and goods.
The skills trades will need almost 1.8 million workers in the building trades alone. Of 1.8 million, we will need 228,000 helpers in the building trades.
That's in addition to the 695,000 needed for vehicle repair and maintenance, 87,000 for HVAC, and 159,000 needed for electronics and telecommunications installation, repair and maintenance.
This Job Corps STARS pilot program addresses that Labor Department priority: ensuring that workers attain the education and skills to compete in the new, changing economy.
We want our Job Corps students to have the same outlook as other jobseekers and students who get the message that marketable skills, training and education matter.
All of us should understand the new economy and also spread the message that these employee characteristics count. To our young people here today, and those everywhere, please make learning a lifelong habit.
Learning directly determines earnings. By increasing motivation and stressing the need to stay in school, our Job Corps students will take the first step toward a life of employment choices.
Remember, by being prepared there is nothing but opportunity ahead for you.
Thank you.
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