Watch: Discussion of workforce racial disparities & building an equitable future
On February 18, the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County and National Fund for Workforce Solutions held a live discussion on new research detailing racial disparities in the Seattle-area workforce and how to build an equitable economic recovery. Panel featuring: Marie Kurose, CEO, Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County; Amanda Cage, President and CEO, National Fund for Workforce Solutions; Rich Stolz, Executive Director, OneAmerica; W. Tali Hairston, Equity Research Specialist, Root and Branch.
New research highlights racial disparities in the workforce in Seattle & makes actionable recommendations for equitable economic recovery
A new report shows that despite Seattle’s reputation as a progressive beacon of economic vitality, deep racial inequities remain in the labor market that are made worse by the pandemic. Using disaggregated data analysis, the report identifies workforce equity strategies that should be implemented to foster broad economic prosperity.
New plan outlines bold strategies to transform workforce development for an equitable economic recovery
Recover Better: A Regional Plan for Equitable Economic Recovery is a 3-5 year blueprint to align shared priorities between regional partners in the local workforce development system. It analyzes the economic impacts from COVID-19, the recovery outlook for sectors and workers, and presents two north stars: equitable economic recovery and job quality.
RFP 20-01 - Youth Programs: Announcement + Virtual Bidder’s Conference
On January 11, 2021, the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County (WDC) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the provision of education, employment, training, and youth development services for in-school youth ages 14-21 and out-of-school youth ages 16-24 residing in King County. Services will be funded in accordance with resources from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
From Response to Recovery
COVID-19 is a wakeup call for our region. We must address long-standing racial inequities as we respond to the crisis.
In Program Year 2019 (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020) we served 41,069 people, including 1,365 young people (age 16-24). We also served 1,735 businesses, including 413 we had not worked with before. Those numbers only hint at the unthinkable challenges our communities and systems faced this year—a global pandemic that took lives and upended livelihoods and had an unequal impact on Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), and immigrants and refugees. From infection rates to employment rates, those most at risk were most impacted.
Webinar: How Much is Enough in Washington State?
Presented via Zoom, by University of Washington’s Center for Women’s Welfare
Wednesday October 28, 1pm-2pm
Join us for this hour-long webinar as Lisa Manzer & Annie Kucklick from University of Washington’s CFWW share an overview of the self-sufficiency standard and findings from the newly released 2020 report, which details the cost of living increases and the impacts across the state of Washington.
Higher cost of living for adults and families across all Washington counties
Both single adults and families face higher costs of living in every county in Washington state. In Seattle, a single adult needs to earn more than the minimum wage to meet basic needs, and more than double that—$34 an hour—if they are caring for an infant. The data comes from the 2020 update to the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State, which provides an in-depth look at the cost of supporting a working family based on housing, childcare, food, healthcare, transportation, and eligible supports.
New Grant to Fund COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Efforts
The Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County is pleased to announce a $500,000 investment from JPMorgan Chase focused on COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts. The WDC will assist individuals who have lost jobs and income as a result of the ongoing public health emergency.
To Reduce Racial Inequality, We Must Reduce Economic Inequality
We begin the next program year in a substantially different place than from last year, even than from a few months ago. The health and economic impacts of COVID-19 have created massive disruptions to the economy and created a new reality for workers, the unemployed, and small businesses.
Update on RFP #19-02 WIOA Business Services - Delay Until March 2021
We have decided to delay the RFP #19-02 for WIOA Business Services until March 2021. This allows interested partners to focus resources on the challenging situation at hand, and for us to incorporate additional community feedback into the process.