Alabama Survey of the Alabama Unemployed and Underemployed 4.0

The Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation and the Alabama Workforce Council conducted the fourth iteration of the Alabama Survey of the Unemployed and Underemployed to measure awareness and attitudes towards new job training programs in Alabama among underemployed and unemployed Alabamians.

The survey was conducted by Cygnal between January 4 and January 16, 2023, and 500 underemployed and unemployed Alabamians responded to the survey. 48% of respondents were male and 52% were female. The results of the Alabama Survey of the Unemployed and Underemployed underscores that fact that COVID-19 as a barrier to employment has almost entirely evaporated, although 45% of respondents claim COVID-19 has contributed to their current state of underemployment or unemployment.

At least three-quarters of respondents are very likely to seek entry to workforce in 2023. The number of men that responded to the survey that have been underemployed longer than 6 months have decreased, while the number of underemployed women has increased. Women are 11% more likely than men to have been underemployed longer than 6 months. Workers over the age of 35 are over 20% more likely to be underemployed for more than 6 months than workers under 35.

The current major obstacle to full employment is now transportation, followed by personal health, and familial obligations. 21% of Alabama jobseekers cited transportation as their greatest barrier to full-time employment, and 31% said it was their primary reason for being either unemployed or underemployed. Lack of transportation is particularly daunting for low-income and urban jobseekers, while older workers are hampered more by health issues. Women are three times more likely than men to cite familial obligations as a barrier to work.

Earning more money has become the preeminent reason for changing industries for both men and women, though women tend to place greater emphasis on reducing stress and a flexible schedule. The top concerns at the height of the pandemic, stability, and consistent wages, have fallen to secondary concerns. High-income earners are more likely to seek out an industry that has a more flexible workload and schedule. 83% of unemployed and underemployed workers are willing to apply for non-remote work, which is up from 77% during the height of pandemic.

When it comes to free training programs, business administration, human services, and information technology garner the most interest. A plurality of respondents said earning a certificate or license is their main goal when receiving job training or education. 41% of respondents said additional training is too expensive. A plurality of unemployed and underemployed workers see value in obtaining a credential before seeking full-time employment. Only 20% respondents completed additional job training while underemployed or unemployed.

At least 85% of respondents said they were more likely to apply for a job after reading about available programs and resources. Men and workers under 35 prefer skills training programs when considering applying for jobs, while women and workers over 35 are more interested in pursuing resources like community college, job fairs, and career coaching.

Due to the strong leadership of Governor Ivey, the Alabama Legislature, the State Board of Education, the State Department of Education, and education advocates in business and industry, Alabama’s historically anemic student proficiency scores and national rankings are beginning to move in the right direction.

This didn’t happen by accident. Governor Kay Ivey is Alabama’s education governor, and she has done more to transform Alabama’s K-12 education system during her five years in office than any of her predecessors.

From the beginning of her term as Governor, Kay Ivey has always said that literacy and numeracy are the “blocking and tackling” of education. During her first term, Governor Ivey set the bar for the Legislature and Alabama State Department of Education, and the Alabama State Board of Education to begin the hard work of improving Alabama’s education system to produce the educational results that Alabamians deserve.  Under Governor Ivey’s leadership, wise investments have been made to lay the foundation for excellence in literacy and numeracy.

Governor Ivey signed the Alabama Numeracy Act into law in May 2022, which places the same level of focus on mathematics that the Alabama Literacy Act placed on reading in 2019.

Alabama’s business community, through the work of the Alabama Workforce Council and other advocacy groups, have worked in conjunction with Governor Ivey to implement much-needed educational improvements.

Unfortunately, Alabama’s educational assessments, standards, and state superintendents have been altered or replaced every other year for a decade. Typically, change affects performance.  Alabama’s constant changes in leadership, assessments, and standards may have something to do with our low educational test scores. To maintain our current momentum, we must stop the standards war driven by reactionary voices that continue to push to change our standards every other year.

Continued changes in tests and standards confuse students, parents, and educators.  It also hinders our ability to determine student progress over time. It is extremely important to consistently maintain standards over a long enough period to accurately compare current performance to prior performance. Without consistency in standards and testing, confusion reigns.

We are pleased that Alabama’s 2019 Mathematics and 2021 English Language Arts courses of study were developed by Alabama’s teachers and members of business and industry.

Alabama has a new assessment system, the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP).  Hopefully, our leaders will stick with the new assessment program for a long enough period to eliminate confusion.

Consistency will allow all Alabama education stakeholders—parents, students, educators, businesses, and citizens—to understand our educational goals and test results.

Due to Governor Ivey’s strong and consistent leadership, strong standards, and an assessment system aligned to the standards, we have already seen some limited growth on the 2022 Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP), which is Alabama’s annual summative student assessment given in grades 2-8.

Every grade in K-12 saw improvement in scores on the ELA ACAP from 2021 to 2022, with the largest increase in 2^nd grade whose proficiency increased from 43% to 49%.

The National Assessment of Education Progress, commonly referred to as NAEP (pronounced “nape”), is the only educational test that compares student performance across the country. In 2022, Alabama’s 4^th grade NAEP math ranking improved from 52^nd in the nation to 40^th..  Alabama 4^th grade ranking in reading increased from 49^th  in the nation in 2019 to 39^th place in 2022.  Alabama’s ranking for 8^th grade mathematics improved from 52^nd 2019 to 47^th in 2022.  Since 1992 Alabama’s 4^th grade students have never been ranked in the top 40 nationally.

Our state’s national rankings in reading and math improved in relation to other states, but our nominal test scores were not significantly improved.  In other words, our rankings improved in relation to other states because our students’ scores did not drop from prior years as much as other states did.  That means that our students’ loss of learning was significantly lower than other state’s students.

Keeping students in school during COVID-19 is certainly one variable that helped Alabama hold its own during a dramatic national decline.

Kudos to our state’s leadership, starting with Governor Ivey, to make the tough decision to place our children’s education above the national hysteria about COVID.  Our state’s leadership worked very hard to minimize the effect of COVID on our children’s loss of learning.

Alabamians should be proud that we held our own and did not experience as much COVID-19 learning loss as other states; however, our results should not be cause for us to become complacent or rest on our laurels.

The results from this year’s ACAP and NAEP are reason to double down and saddle up for the hard work that lays before us.  We have a head start on many other states. Let’s keep going! We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is a long tunnel.

The Alabama Workforce Council will continue to fall in beside Governor Ivey, Superintendent Eric Mackey, the Alabama Legislature, and the members of the Alabama State Board of Education to continue pushing for improvements in our children’s education because, as we all know—leadership matters!

Alabama’s need for aviation mechanics and technicians is soaring and a new registered apprenticeship program will begin filling that need with trained and qualified individuals.  The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship has partnered with M1 Support Services and the Alabama Aviation College to develop an apprenticeship program that combines paid work experience and classroom instruction, all while earning a portable, nationally recognized credential.

”We are proud to see  M1 Support Services developing a joint apprenticeship program to help meet the critical workforce needs for skilled aviation mechanics and technicians in the Fort Rucker area”, said Josh Laney, Director of the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship.  We are very thankful to the company and the union for helping us set a high standard throughout the program’s development and we look forward to the years of growth and success ahead for everyone involved.”

At the successful completion of the program, students will have a nationally recognized credential and a pathway to a high-wage and high-demand job.  The paid, on-the-job training that they receive through the apprenticeship program sets them up for success while providing a pipeline of qualified workers for M1 Support Services.

A signing ceremony was recently held for the apprentices and M1 Support Services at Enterprise Community College.

The demand for nurses is at an all-time high and the number of open nursing positions in the healthcare field is growing rapidly.  Mapping nursing career paths, providing learning and training while also a living wage to students is the newest strategy to deliver qualified nurses into the workforce.

The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship has partnered with the Alabama Board of Nursing and the Alabama Community College System to develop the state’s first nursing registered apprenticeship program.

What does a nursing apprenticeship program in Alabama mean? It means that students accepted into their local community college’s practical or registered nursing apprenticeship program get classroom instruction and on-the-job learning but at the same time, they are earning progressive wages.  Students will actually work as a hospital employee, earning pay for program clinical and practicum hours.  After successful completion of the program and the passage of the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination), the student transitions to full-time employment at the hospital where they were an apprentice.

Josh Laney, Director of the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship, said “the opportunity for nurse apprentices to earn while they learn, to continue applying skills learned in class in a real work environment, and to extend the time spent working with their preceptors, will positively impact the nursing industry’s critical needs for recruitment and retention of highly prepared nurses.”

The rules from the administrative code go into effect on March 17, 2022.  The initial cohort of nursing apprentices will launch this summer, and it will be open to other interested employers and training providers in the fall.

The new nursing apprenticeship program is just one way that the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship is working to remove barriers to entry for students wanting to enter high-demand occupations while also helping to meet Governor Ivey’s Success Plus Goal of adding 500,000 credentialed workers to the workforce by 2025.

MONTGOMERY, Ala – Despite the lingering economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report says Alabama’s workforce stands stronger today than it did one year ago.  “The Alabama Workforce Council (AWC) has been strengthened as an organization over the past year.  Our advocacy with state agencies and the Legislature has led to policy outcomes that will improve the lives of thousands of Alabamians,” said AWC Chair Tim McCartney and Vice Chair Sandra Koblas in a letter to Gov. Ivey and legislators that accompanies the report.

In partnership with the Alabama Legislature, the AWC successfully worked to increase funding for dual enrollment for career and technical education for high school students, reduce teacher chronic absenteeism and grow the educator workforce pipeline.  The Fiscal Year 2022 Education Trust Fund Budget included a $3 million increase for the dual enrollment program, which brought total funding for the program to $21.2 million. An $11 million increase for the K-12 Career Tech Initiative nearly doubled the total investment in the program to $19.3 million. Plus, there was a new $10 million investment in the Alabama Community College System’s Innovation Center for rapid worker training.

“Considering these successes, we are not resting on our laurels. In 2022, we will be focusing on completing our system for connecting talent and opportunity, known as the Alabama Talent Triad, increasing the labor force participation rate, and making tremendous progress against the Success Plus postsecondary education attainment goals,” said McCartney and Koblas.

Other highlights in the report about the AWC’s efforts are:

• ATLAS on Career Pathways, the state’s interagency data-sharing system, was implemented and will provide the data that’s needed to identify in-demand careers and credentials.
• The Alabama Credential Registry launched as the first of three technology solutions that comprise the Alabama Talent Triad, which will be used to scale skills-based hiring and competency-based learning practices in Alabama.
• The AWC partnered with Governor Ivey and the State Board of Education to pass a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion policy that will open the doors to postsecondary education and the workforce for all of Alabama’s high school graduates.
• The Alabama Computer Science Summit resumed after a one-year hiatus caused by COVID-19.
• These successes and others are helping to achieve Gov. Ivey’s Success Plus goal of adding 500,000 highly skilled Alabamians to the workforce by 2025.

The full report can be viewed here.

The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship (AOA) has recently launched an interactive dashboard to promote registered apprenticeship expansion in Alabama. Developed in partnership with the University of Alabama Education Policy Center, this multipurpose dashboard is one of the first in the country to provide a diverse set of stakeholders with a one-stop-shop to explore current registered apprenticeships at the state level. The tool also gives users the opportunity to learn about all of the apprenticeable and in-demand occupations for which a program can be built.

The AOA has greatly anticipated the launch of this site and is excited to share it with the public. “We are proud of the work that the University of Alabama Education Policy Center (EPC) has done to create an innovative tool that will help all Alabamians access apprenticeship opportunities,” said Josh Laney, Director of the AOA. “This one-of-a-kind dashboard is another example of how Alabama is striving to provide high-quality customer service to our employers in meeting their workforce needs, as well as expanding career pathways for our citizens.”

“It is a privilege for this Center and The University of Alabama to be of service to business and state leaders working to achieve Governor Kay Ivey’s important goal of 500,000 more Alabamians with recognized credentials and certificates by 2025,” said Dr. Steve Katsinas, EPC Director.  “Helping more Alabamians into better jobs is good for our state and nation, and that is exactly what the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship is doing.”

The tool was created to provide useful, up-to-date information for anyone interested in an apprenticeship, including students, parents, training providers, workforce agencies, and employers. For employers, this dashboard offers an ability to search for potential apprenticeship opportunities applicable to their company. On the other hand, high school students can use it to explore local apprenticeship opportunities for which they can apply.  Better still is that all of this information and more can be accessed interactively, through tools like a point-and-click map, or statically through downloadable tables and exported graphics. That way, users of the dashboard can view the information they want, however they want.

So far the AOA team has shared a beta version of the dashboard with workforce partners across Alabama who could benefit from its existence. Among the first to benefit were the Alabama Career Center staff who work with job seekers and employers. Recently, a focus group of apprenticeship employers has been included in the beta to review the dashboard’s effectiveness as a promotional tool for their programs at both the local and state level.

The dashboard can be found on the AOA’s website (www.alapprentice.org). To take full advantage of what the dashboard has to offer, it is recommended that new users check out the instructional videos and user documentation found on the website. If further assistance is needed, or if you are interested in learning more about an apprenticeship program in your area, please contact your local AOA project manager at alapprentice.org/contact/. If you have any feedback or additional questions, please contact the AOA at info@alapprentice.org.

Second Alabama Statewide Survey of Employer Talent Dynamics

Background
The Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation and Alabama Workforce Council conducted the second Alabama Statewide Survey of Employer Talent Dynamics, which surveyed employers hiring practices (including interest in skills-based hiring), human capital development and training practices, and the nature of challenges related to hiring and employee retention. The survey was conducted by Cygnal between September 16 and September 26, 2021, with a survey sample size of 314 Alabama employers. The survey was a follow up from the first Alabama Statewide Survey of Employer Talent Dynamics, which was conducted between April 26 and May 2, 2021. Responses were collected through an online panel via a secure survey link distributed to employers by Alabama trade associations.

Progress Against the Skills Gap
About 75 percent of responding employers plan to add new jobs in the next six months (compared to 73 percent in May), and 86 percent of responding employers are having trouble finding skilled candidates (compared to 84 percent in May). The main reasons cited for not being able to find employees were a lack of applicants in general (September: 25 percent / May: 30 percent) and applicants who lack the skills the job requires (September: 35 percent / May: 32 percent). Some reasons to be optimistic include the fact that, in May, respondents who planned on adding jobs were split between ‘definitely yes” and “probably yes” (37 percent each) but now more are in the “definitely yes” and less are in the “probably yes” categories (48 percent “definitely yes,” 31 percent “probably yes”). Additionally, in May, more respondents were having a great deal of trouble finding good candidates (33 percent “great trouble” and 28 percent “some trouble”) but now a plurality are only having “some trouble” (30 percent “great trouble” and 36 percent “some trouble”).

The Increasing Popularity of Skills-Based Hiring
Like in May, 83 percent of companies review the skills, education, and qualifications of their incumbent workforce before developing job descriptions for open positions. For both the May and September surveys, 93 percent of organizations with 100-999 employees indicated that they use skills-based hiring practices. For the May survey, 56 percent of organizations did not require a degree for jobs in which 25 percent or more of the current workforce does not have a degree (39 percent did). Those numbers are nearly even now, with 45 percent requiring a degree and 50 percent not doing so. Like in May, only a quarter of companies with fewer than 20 employees require a degree for jobs in which 25 percent or more of the current workforce does not have a degree. This number increases precipitously for companies with 20 or more employees (44 percent – 69 percent).

The number of respondents who would prefer to hire a candidate with a great deal of relevant experience or skills but no college degree has also increased (September: 74 percent / May: 68 percent), as has its intensity. In September, 6 percent more respondents say they would hire the candidate with a great deal of relevant experience or skills but no college degree (September: 45 percent / May: 39 percent) over a candidate with a degree but little to no experience or skills.

While almost everyone is familiar with skills-based hiring (September 87 percent / May: 79 percent), only 29 percent of organizations always use it. Most respondents say they use it most of the time (52 percent). Like in May, large companies are more likely to use it than smaller ones. The percentage of organizations who always use competency statements in their job descriptions has increased from 26 percent to 32 percent. The percentage who use competency statements in their job descriptions most of the time has remained steady (September: 47 percent / May: 48 percent). Since these practices are linked, using competency statements in job descriptions and skills-based hiring are more common among large organizations. Both practices are very popular with senior management. The percentage of respondents who are not currently using skills- and competency-based job descriptions but would be interested in developing them if they could save their organization time and/or money has increased 12 percent since May (September: 74 percent / May: 62 percent).

Growing Interest in Ready to Work
More than half of respondents are “very familiar” (30 percent) or “somewhat familiar” (36 percent) familiar with the Ready to Work program (May 24 percent “very familiar”, 35 percent “somewhat familiar”). Respondents without a college degree, low-income earners, rural respondents, white respondents, and respondents from organizations with fewer than 100 employees are less familiar with the program than their counterparts. There is reason to be optimistic, since 91 percent of respondents believe the Ready to Work program adds, or could add, value to their workforce, including 80 percent of respondents who are not at all familiar with it and 90 percent of respondents who are not very familiar with it. The most interested respondent groups are people under age 50, college-educated respondents, high-income earners, suburbanites, minorities, senior management, HR managers, and respondents from organizations with 500 or more employees.

 

Right now is the best time to pursue a career in transportation or distribution, a trend only forecasted to increase.  To keep pace with demand and create a pipeline of qualified employees the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship (AOA) has worked with industry partners Billy Barnes Enterprises and Reid State Technical College to establish the first competency-based Commercial Driver Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program in the state and commemorated it with a signing day for new apprentices.

Registered apprenticeships are nationally recognized and proven training models that allow participants to “earn while they learn.”  This program represents a concerted effort in building and developing viable talent pipelines and encouraging Alabama job seekers to enter these life-changing career pathways.

“The demand for commercial drivers will only continue to grow. Apprenticeships like this help provide a pathway for job seekers to stable, high-quality career opportunities,” stated Josh Laney, Director of the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship. “The creation of these meaningful training and employment opportunities, in partnership with champion employers like Billy Barnes Enterprises, is a benefit to the individual apprentices, the local economy, and Alabama as a whole.”

Governor Kay Ivey’s Success Plus goal calls for the addition of 500,000 highly skilled workers to the workforce by 2025 to meet the needs of industry and help Alabamians advance into high-demand, high-wage occupations.  This innovative program will meet the needs of employers and employees while growing Alabama’s robust transportation industry.

“The Alabama Trucking Association Foundation is proud of the partnership forged with our community colleges and high schools to bring this program to life,” stated Tim Frazier. “We have high hopes that this model apprenticeship program can be replicated throughout the state and will accelerate many new talented individuals to start a career in Alabama Trucking.”