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January 2016 - In This Issue:
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On December 10, 2015, at the Radisson Hotel & Suites in Chelmsford,
GLWDB Director Gail Brown and Board Chair Raymond Wrobel welcomed new board members
Greg Lennartz of Excell Solutions and Susan Soucy of United Parcel Service (UPS.)
Guest Speaker Alice Sweeney, Director of the Department of Career Services updated Board members on the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the State's plan for implementation. Ms. Sweeney's presentation provided the Board with details on changes required under WIOA, including a WIA and WIOA comparison, One-Stop Career Center Standards, Workforce Board Certification, Demand Driven 2.0 (a model to better assess business needs and priorities), the One-Stop Career Center Competitive Selection Process and next steps at the State and local levels. Detailed information on WIOA is available at:
www.mass.gov/lwd/.
In addition, Susan Clark from the Department of Unemployment Assistance made a presentation on the state's
WorkShare program, which provides employers and employees an opportunity to adjust work schedules in order to avoid layoffs.
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Alice Sweeney, Director of the Department of Career Services
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Other business discussed included the board renaming to Greater Lowell Workforce Development Board, as approved by the board at the September 15, 2015 quarterly meeting; a new website; an update on the WIOA Youth Partners and the WIOA Transition Committee; a summary of Workforce Training Funds awarded to Greater Lowell companies; and new Workforce Board Certification Standards.
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Burlington Restaurant Job Fair
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The Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce and Burlington-area restaurants are conducting a job fair on January 16, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The following restaurants have committed to attend and more are expected:
Besito Mexican
Bonefish Grill
Café Escadrille
Chopps American Bar & Grill
Kings Bowl
L'Andana
Osteria Nino
Papa Razzi Metro
PAUL Bakery
Redstone American Grill
Uno Pizzeria & Grill Burlington
A shuttle will operate between Lowell and Burlington to provide transportation to the job fair.
For more information and to register click
here.
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People who are not in the labor force: why aren't they working?
People who are neither working nor looking for work are counted as "not in the labor force," according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since 2000, the percentage of people in this group has increased. Data from the
Current Population Survey (CPS) and its Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) provide some insight into why people are not in the labor force. Read more
here.
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Labor Force, Employment and Unemployment
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts released the latest Labor Force, Employment and Unemployment numbers for
November 2015
. In the Greater Lowell Area
148,819
workers were in the labor force, of which
141,672
were employed and
7,147
were unemployed. The unemployment rate was
4.8 %
, down from
5.1%
in November of 2014.
Nationally, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 292,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Employment gains occurred in several industries, led by professional and business services, construction, health care, and food services and drinking places. Mining employment continued to decline.
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The GLWDB continues planning for changes associated with WIOA. Some changes were introduced in 2015 while others will be implemented over the next year.
The first change we implemented was to shift 75% of funding to Out-of-School Youth (OSY) programs.
We also updated our board membership to include a Registered Apprenticeship representative and we are currently working on Workforce Board Standards and Certification and procurement of One-Stop Operators.
More details will be provided as available.
To learn more about WIOA please utilize the following resources:
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| According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Health Care and Social Assistance Industry will have the largest share of total employment by 2024. The industry is projected to increase its share of total wage and salary employment to 14.5 percent by 2024, up from 12.8 percent in 2014 and 10.8 percent in 2004. Information on all industry projections is available here. |
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January 4, 2016
Total Job Postings:
117,408
Greater Lowell Job Postings: 3,803 Specialized Job Sites
Click here to visit MA JobQuest |
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GLWDB & Career C
enter of Lowell Events
- January 21, 2016 - GLWDB WIOA Transition Committee Meeting, 8:30 a.m., GLWDB, 107 Merrimack Street, 3rd Floor, Lowell, MA, 01852
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January 26, 2016 - GLWDB Youth Council Meeting, 8:30 a.m., GLWDB, 107 Merrimack Street, 3rd Floor, Lowell, MA, 01852
- February 16, 2016 - GLWDB Executive Board Meeting, 8:30 a.m., GLWDB, 107 Merrimack Street, 3rd Floor, Lowell, MA, 01852
- March 10, 2016 - GLWDB Quarterly Meeting, 7:30 to 9:00 a.m., UMass Lowell Innovation Hub, 110 Canal Street, 4th Floor, Lowell, MA, 01852
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Northeast Advanced Manufacturing Consortium (NAMC)
The next round of Machining and Electronics Trainees, hosted by the GLWDB, Career Center of Lowell, Middlesex Community College, and Greater Lowell Technical High School,
will complete their training in early February. Twenty-four students will have completed over 370 hours in the classroom and in labs and achieve the following certifications:
- AC and DC Certification from ETA
- J-STD-001 certification
- MACWIC or NIMS certification
Employers interested in these
graduates for potential job opportunities can contact:
Brian Norris,
NAMC Director, (
978) 722-7087 or
[email protected].
In addition, on December 3, 2015, NAMC was awarded one of ten
Advanced Manufacturing Training Program Workforce Development Grants by the Baker-Polito Administration.
These grants will fund programs providing precision manufacturing training to unemployed and underemployed individuals. The training grants will focus efforts on demographic groups that experience chronically higher rates of unemployment, and groups that are historically underrepresented in the manufacturing sector, including veterans, African Americans, Hispanic or Latino Americans, and women. The grants were awarded by the Governor's Workforce Skills Cabinet.
New Name, New Website
The GLWIB is changing its name as part of the transition to the new Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). WIOA was signed into legislation last year and governs the public workforce system. Under WIOA local boards are referred to as
Workforce Development Boards (WDBs). Moving forward we will be known as the Greater Lowell Workforce Development Board (GLWDB). To help promote consistency and common terminology, we've changed our logo, website and email addresses. Please visit our new website at
www.glwdb.org.
Connecting Activities Update
The GLWDB Connecting Activities Program staff met with more than 120 students at Lowell, Greater Lowell Technical, Dracut and Tewksbury High Schools during the months of November and December.
Students filled out job applications and received advice on building resumes, developing job references and interviewing skills.
Youth Job Fair
Save the date for the Youth Job Fair at Lowell High School on May 5, 2016. Last year more than 50 employers and close to 600 students attended. More than 130 youth were hired.
Apprenticeship Grant
The GLWDB, in partnership with the Northeast Advanced Manufacturing Consortium (NAMC), will assist in recruiting up to 72 apprenticeship trainees for positions in manufacturing including industrial technician, machine operator, assembler and machine set-up operator at 15 advanced manufacturing employers.
NAMC will receive a portion of a $2.9 million grant to fund the Massachusetts Apprenticeship Initiative (MAI) through the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Department of Career Services.
Full Service Community School
As part of a grant awarded to Lowell Public Schools, the GLWDB and Career Center of Lowell are partnering with the Lowell Career Academy to provide students, their families and community members access to centralized services.
GLWDB will provide information to students on work readiness, preparing a resume and interviewing techniques, identifying and developing career pathways. The Career Center of Lowell will provide information on services available to adult job-seekers on services available through the Career Center and summer employment opportunities for youth.
The partnership includes other area organizations who will provide academic, social and health services information including Community Teamwork, the Abisi Adult Education Center, Middlesex Community College, Lowell Community Health Center, Mill City Grows, Project LEARN and many more.
This program is funded through the US Department of Education and is intended to create a multi-service center for low-income residents in the area.
MA Treasurer's Wage Equality
Round-table
On November 10, 2015 State Treasurer Deb Goldberg and the Treasurer's statewide Advisory Committee on Wage Equality conducted a Roundtable event at the UMASS Lowell Inn and Conference Center to discuss issues impacting wage equality. The Advisory committee collaborates with business and thought leaders from across the state to explore and develop best practices to close the gender wage gap.
Panelists at the event included Joe Hungler, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell, Bopha Malone, Branch Relationship Manager of Enterprise Bank, Danielle McFadden, President & CEO of the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce, Jacqueline Moloney, Chancellor of UMass Lowell, and Patricia Parcellin, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Eastern MA and Gail Brown, Director of the Greater Lowell Workforce Development Board.
November Job Fair
The Career Center of Lowell held a job fair at the Radisson Hotel & Suites in Chelmsford on November 10, 2015. Twenty-six employers and over 300 job seekers attended.
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STAY CONNECTED
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