Unemployment, Public Service Jobs and Apprenticeship Programs

On Saturday I watched C-SPAN II where the topic was the unemployment and the US job market. They discussed and criticized the on going effort to create more jobs. However, they made some good points however practical or impractical they might be.

One of the topics was the Hire Act of 2010. Part of that act is about giving tax credits to employers who hire people. The problem with the act is that no small business will hire a person because of a tax credit. A business hires because they need another employee. The bottom line is profit, not tax credits. I think that the tax credit for hiring a worker was a nice effort but the real effort should be a growing market for US products.

They talked about wage credit programs, wage subsidy programs which are other ways to encourage employers to hire and train unskilled workers. The arguments for and against these programs (as well as public job creation programs) at the State and Federal level are well known.

Then they talked about the Canadian Local Initiatives Program. For the US, this idea involves using public service jobs as a tool to build skills for the unskilled worker. In other words, the unskilled worker is hired for low wages and trained for a skill while performing a public service. One might call it an apprenticeship program. Once the worker is trained, the worker could theoretically find a job in the private sector. I say theoretically because of the current scarcity of jobs. The current Federal apprenticeship program is the Employment and Training Administration and exists within the Department of Labor.

Another area is education. This type of program is also already in existence. College students take a semester off to work in the field they are majoring in. It's part of their curriculum.

In many states, the current state and local budgets are very tight and will require Federal assistance for any additional jobs and job training. The current financial situation at the Federal level rules out the possibility of more Federal funds for additional jobs. I looked up public service jobs in my area and found that there are no jobs available. I think people in other areas may encounter the same problem.

For those who are interested, the link for public service jobs is provided below:

http://www.publicservicecareers.org/

Here is the link for the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration:

http://www.doleta.gov/oa/

For those who are interested in the details of the Hire Act, Here is a link to public law 111-147:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ147/html/PLAW-111publ147.htm

Here is an explanation of the Hiring Act:

http://www.s-consult.com/2010/03/20/hiring-incentives-to-restore-employment-hire-explained/

Here is a link for public service jobs in New York

http://www.career.cornell.edu/publicService/questions/careerinterest.html

and

And here is a link for New York Apprenticeship Programs

http://www.labor.state.ny.us/pressreleases/apprenticeshiparchive.shtm