skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

White House says Elon Musk isn't in charge at DOGE, but 'advising' the president; CA schools brace for harmful cuts to Medi-Cal; Report says AR students still struggle with COVID-19 learning loss; and UT enacts controversial labor union law.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SAVE Act, requiring proof of citizenship to vote, is moving in the U.S. House. Environmental groups want the U.S. Senate to kill a bill they say falsely claims to slow climate change, and the agriculture industry is concerned about mass migrant deportations.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural America struggles with opioids and homelessness in unexpected ways, Colorado's Lariat Ditch could help spur local recreation, and book deliveries revive rural communities hit by Hurricane Helene.

Report: MA Needs Greater Investment in Workforce Training

play audio
Play

Monday, April 4, 2022   

A new report finds technology is changing many industries in Massachusetts, and the state needs to upgrade its workforce development capacity to accommodate the shift and help people get better jobs.

The study, from the state's Future of Work Commission, established by the General Court in 2020, noted the typical worker in Massachusetts is now expected to have more than 12 different jobs in the course of their career.

Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Springfield, who co-led the commission, said Massachusetts needs to at least double its current workforce training pipelines to keep up with the technological transformation.

"So, it's made it very important that our workforce training become nimbler, more flexible, more iterative," Lesser outlined. "Credentials can kind of 'stack' on top of each other to build skills over time as technology changes."

The report recommended investing heavily in technical training, apprenticeships, work-based and sector-based learning programs. It also stressed the importance of scaling up programs to get people into the workforce who are often left out, such as those with disabilities or reentering society after incarceration.

More jobs require postsecondary degrees or credentials. And while income- and race-based gaps in graduating from high school and going to college have narrowed in recent years, college graduation gaps have widened.

Lesser added workplace disruptions during COVID have had an outsized impact on women and people of color.

"As we look around the corner here, through COVID, into what the future of our economy and of our workforce is looking at, we've got to keep an emphasis on equity and inclusion in all its forms: racial equity, gender equity, and geographic and type of worker equity," Lesser urged.

The report found a growing gulf between professional workers who can do their jobs in hybrid or fully remote settings, and frontline and service-industry workers who have borne the economic strain of the pandemic. It also highlighted the need to support basic requirements allowing many people to work, from child care and elder care to housing, broadband and transportation.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
AARP Community Challenge grants have helped launch community gardens, which help improve livability for residents in a number of ways. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

AARP Colorado is accepting applications from nonprofits and local governments across the state for this year's Community Challenge grant program…


Health and Wellness

play sound

Town hall meetings start tonight across California, pushing back against congressional Republicans' proposal to cut hundreds of billions of dollars …

Social Issues

play sound

Worker's rights advocates and nursing home providers say Washington has a long-term care workforce crisis, and that inadequate benefits in the …


ALICE data from the United Way found between 2019-2022, the median hourly wage for teaching assistants in Connecticut was $23.38. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Connecticut union organizers are working to get pension plans for paraeducators. In recent years, they have won a flurry of benefits from organizing …

Social Issues

play sound

Some New York members of Congress are trying to repeal bank overdraft fee regulations. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created a rule …

Women, young adults and those with a family history of depression tend to experience seasonal affective disorder at higher rates. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

If the cold weather and snow have got you down and feeling like there's no end in sight, you are not alone. Nationwide, up to 6% of the population …

Health and Wellness

play sound

New legislation backed by the American Heart Association would require all Oregon schools to have cardiac emergency response plans in place. …

Health and Wellness

play sound

By Tim Spears for WISH-TV.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Col…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021