WORKING
TO GET TALENT

FOR EMPLOYERS

Connecting Local Businesses
to Regional Resources

The LA Basin is home to an estimated 244,000 businesses that fuel our region’s economic vitality. From small businesses to large, and across a diverse range of industries, our local business communities rely on access to a qualified, skilled, and competitive workforce to grow and thrive. The LA Basin Workforce Network (LABWN) is committed to creating innovative partnerships, programs, and solutions that directly respond to the specific needs of local businesses while connecting them to vital resources across our region.

MEETING THE NEED

346,000

new jobs will need to be filled by 2020 in the LA Basin1

65%

of all jobs will require post-secondary education or training by 20202

7 in 10

manufacturing employers face a shortage of skilled workers3

90%

of region’s aerospace employers plan to add jobs in the next year4

50%

of Metro’s workforce will be eligible for retirement by 20245

CLOSING THE SKILL AND LABOR GAPS

The LA Basin economy is growing strong, and employment remains high. As businesses across the region continue expanding and hiring, the labor market is experiencing significant shifts. Employers across multiple industries are facing an exodus of knowledgeable, experienced workers as they prepare for retirement. Many industry sectors are seeing a greater demand for workers that bring more specialized skills, and struggle to find employees for hard-to-fill positions.

As part of our region-wide collaboration, the LABWN works closely with local businesses representing a range of industries across the LA Basin. By actively involving employers in shaping our strategies and initiatives, we’re helping develop, implement, and support training programs and solutions that build the pipeline of skilled, qualified, work-ready, and diverse employees they need most.

THE HEALTHCARE PIPELINE

Over the next 10 years, seven out of 10 of the fastest growing occupations in California will be in the healthcare professions sector.6 Across the LA Basin, hospitals and healthcare systems are struggling to find, attract, and retain qualified employees in a sustainable and cost-effective way. The LABWN is helping local healthcare providers collaborate rather than compete for resources, through innovative regional training programs that build in-demand skills for healthcare professionals while reducing staff and recruitment costs, lowering turnover, and establishing industry-best practices.

Learn more about our healthcare training initiative >

MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING PIPELINE

The LA Basin is the nation’s largest manufacturing center, and a world leader in aerospace manufacturing and engineering. As the region’s manufacturing and engineering industries continue to grow, employers within this key industry sector are confronting a critical shortage of skilled workers. This shortage is only exacerbated by the large number of experienced workers approaching retirement.

The LABWN is partnering with the LA Basin’s manufacturers in aerospace, bioscience/technology, and other industries to update the skills of incumbent employees while preparing the next generation of qualified workers. Through innovative initiatives like our Aero-Flex Pre-Apprenticeship, the nation’s first of its kind, we’re delivering training programs customized to meet the specific needs of manufacturers across our region.

Learn more about our aerospace training initiative >

TRANSPORTATION PIPELINE

Across the region, major infrastructure and transportation projects are underway — connecting communities, people, and employers from one end of the LA Basin to the other. One of the region’s largest employers, Metro currently has 40 projects in the works, with more on the horizon. Metro joins others in the transportation and logistics industry in facing a severe shortage of skilled workers, as around 50% of their workforce is set to reach retirement age in 2024.5

From the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the transportation network of Metro, the LABWN is collaborating with employers regionwide to make sure they have a sustainable, qualified pipeline of work-ready employees. Through unique partnerships like Metro’s Workforce Initiative Now-Los Angeles (WIN-LA), we’re opening career pathways for our communities’ underserved job seekers while training the skilled, qualified workers needed to build our region’s future.

Learn more about our transportation training initiative >

EXPANDING THE TALENT POOL

The LA Basin boasts one of the nation’s most diverse workforces. While our communities’ youth and adult job seekers have much to offer, many also confront significant barriers to meaningful, long-term employment. The LABWN’s innovative collaborations and programs are driven by employers’ demand, but also focused on serving our communities’ most vulnerable and underserved residents.

With initiatives aimed at disconnected out-of-school and out-of-work youth, veterans, individuals involved with the criminal justice system, people experiencing homelessness and mental health issues, job seekers with disabilities, and more, we’re working to make sure every individual in the LA Basin has every opportunity to find and thrive in a career, become contributing members of their communities, and support the success of the employers who believe in them. As our region’s businesses face challenges in filling positions and finding qualified workers, the LABWN is connecting them to this expanded pool of untapped talent.

One Source, Many Business Solutions

With business centers and dedicated, experienced business staff located in communities across the LA Basin, local employers have convenient, centralized, no- and low-cost access to a wide network of business services and solutions offered by the LABWN partners. These include:

  • Customized training and incumbent worker training
  • Paid on-the-job training, internships, and work experience
  • Labor market research
  • Business seminars, workshops, and consulting
  • Recruitment, staffing, and hiring assistance
  • Retention strategies and employee development
  • Layoff aversion, downsizing assistance, and other rapid response
  • Assistance with business loans, tax incentives, and Opportunity Zones
  • Navigation services for entrepreneurs and business start-ups

CENTRALIZED SOLUTIONS

Our business centers provide a one-stop source for a wide range of business solutions and services. From securing loans to navigating departments to researching competitive salaries to strategies for attracting and training talent to avoiding lay-offs — employers have one reliable resource to turn to for all their business needs.

LOCALIZED EXPERTISE

Our business centers and staff bring an in-depth knowledge of local business communities and their needs, as well as region-wide labor markets. We deliver customized solutions that respond to individual business demands, challenges, and goals.

COST EFFECTIVE

Our business centers and staff provide expert, quality no- and low-cost services and solutions that help businesses reduce the costs of training, recruiting, and hiring staff; increase efficiencies and productivity; and capture opportunities that strengthen their bottom line.

WORKING-READY EMPLOYEES

Through our America’s Job Centers of California (AJCCs) as well as training and apprenticeship partners across the region, we have access to a vast pool of qualified, work-ready job-seekers who bring diverse experiences, perspectives, and abilities to employers.

SHARING THEIR SUCCESS

1. 2015-2020 Los Angeles: People, Industry and Jobs. Institute for Applied Economics. Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. May 2016.
2. Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements through 2020. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
3. The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing 2015 and Beyond. Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte.
4. Perioperative Specialty RN Training Pilot Project Final Report. June 2019.
5. WinLA.Metro.Net/AboutMetroWinLA
6. 2016-2026 Local Employment Projections Highlights. Employment Development Department, State of California. labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov