KCSpeaks

I thought it was time to have a little fun with WIOA and write a fairy tale. My last fairy tale was published in June of 2014 and was before WIOA legislation. To read the first workforce development fairy tale, check out the archives. Once upon a time in a far off land called Weeoha, lived a community of residents. Many of these residents had jobs and careers, but some found themselves in need of services and assistance to get jobs. Some were reliant on the government for assistance with basic needs because they could not find jobs. Three of these residents, Jack Butcher, John Baker, and Josie Candlemaker, found themselves not satisfied with their lack of opportunity and decided to go on a pilgrimage to find the legendary Cup of Career Success.   According to urban legend, whomever drank from this cup was promised eternal employment and self-sufficient wages as long as they desired. Jack, John, and Josie set out on foot to find the legendary cup. Their first stop was to ...

On the news there is a lot of chatter about reducing or eliminating social programs due to the costs of running these programs. Workforce development can be seen by some people as a social program due to the free services to people that many programs offer. For a moment, I would like to imagine a world without workforce development programs to showcase the importance of our industry.     Before workforce development was ever thought of as a social program, it was imagined to be a form of economic development. In the world without workforce development, there would not be as many new businesses and ultimately not as many jobs for individuals. Workforce development provides services to business to help them grow. It may be information on taxes, business planning services, or assistance with hiring and training employees. Sometimes the assistance is financial. A business may be able to grow and develop due to utilization of specific funds such as, On the Job Training, Cu...