Can Workforce Development Help Us Reach Full Employment?

Harry Holzer

No 16624, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In this paper, I review the potential of workforce development programs to help the US get closer to "full employment." First, I provide some background on workforce development in the US, and also on the aggregate employment/labor force issues that workforce programs may or may not address. Then I review the empirical evidence on job training and other forms of workforce development, in terms of impacts on employment (as opposed to earnings). I briefly consider how the US experience in this regard compares and contrasts with that of other countries in the EU or OECD, and what we might learn from them. I conclude that more and better workforce development could help somewhat to achieve lower unemployment and higher labor force participation in the US, though we also need a range of other policies to achieve these goals.

Keywords: workforce development; job training; full employment; labor force participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J3 J6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2023-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
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