Every September, Workforce Development Month provides an opportunity to recognize the professionals, programs, partnerships, and technologies helping people build meaningful careers and businesses find the talent they need.
Created by the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) in 2005, Workforce Development Month was established to raise awareness about the importance of the workforce development industry to the national economy. Originally observed in May, the designation moved to September in 2012. Today, the month serves as an opportunity to celebrate workforce professionals while highlighting the role their work plays in strengthening individuals, businesses, and communities.
That role has become increasingly important as the workforce development system responds to changing labor markets, evolving technologies, new expectations from job seeker and employers, and continued pressure on public agencies to deliver more services with limited resources.
Few people have witnessed that evolution as closely as Paul Toomey, President and Founder of Geographic Solutions. Since founding the company in 1992, Toomey has watched technology reshape the way workforce services are delivered. His tenure in workforce development has spanned the emergence of the internet and online workforce systems to remote service delivery, integrated platforms, and most recently, artificial intelligence.
During a recording of an upcoming episode of Geographic Solutions’ VOScast Podcast, Toomey reflected on those changes and what they could mean for the future of workforce development.
Doing More With Less
When asked about the greatest challenge facing public workforce development today, Toomey pointed to one familiar to agencies across the country: resources.
“The biggest challenge facing the public sector workforce development industry today is lack of resources,” Toomey said, describing an environment in which agencies are increasingly being asked to do more with less.
That challenge places greater importance on finding ways to make existing resources, particularly staff time, go further.
Technology is increasingly part of that equation. Online service delivery can expand access without requiring every interaction to take place inside a physical workforce center. Automation can reduce repetitive administrative work. And, artificial intelligence can help workforce professionals complete time-consuming tasks more efficiently, leaving additional time for the human interactions that often matter most.
Toomey highlighted AI applications, such as VOS Sapphire AI, that can summarize extensive case notes and help staff develop Individualized Employment Plans. Rather than requiring a case manager to manually review dozens of notes or begin an employment plan from scratch, AI can create a starting point for the professional to review, refine, and apply to the participant’s circumstances.
Expanding When and Where Workforce Development Happens
Technology is also changing where workforce services can reach people.
One example Toomey highlighted is the use of workforce technology within correctional institutions. Traditionally, employment services for justice-impacted individuals starts after release. Through new approaches, those services now start before release.
“People within the correctional institution can look at their careers, their skills, jobs that are out there that might match those skills, and create a résumé, all within the confines of the correctional facility,” said Toomey.
It represents a broader shift in workforce development: meeting people where they are instead of waiting for them to find the system.
Building a More Connected Workforce System
Looking several years ahead, Toomey expects the continued expansion of digital services to be accompanied by another significant trend: greater integration.
Public workforce systems encompass numerous programs, each with its own requirements, services, and terminology. But the person seeking assistance may not know the difference between WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act), SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), unemployment insurance, and other programs.
Toomey sees the industry as moving toward a stronger “no wrong door” model in which technology helps guide individuals toward appropriate programs and services through a more unified experience.
“The system will guide you through that process,” Toomey said, envisioning a more seamless experience where individuals can access multiple programs without navigating separate, fragmented systems.
Making Workforce Services Easier to Find
The industry faces challenges that extend beyond technology to the issue of awareness.
Toomey noted that many people simply don’t realize the breadth of services available through the public workforce systems. Businesses, especially, can turn to workforce agencies for help identifying qualified candidates and connecting with talent, often at no cost to the employer.
“A lot of employers don’t realize the resources that are available to them, essentially free of charge, to help them find correct and appropriate talent,” said Toomey.
Services like these available to business owners makes Workforce Development Month not only valuable to the professionals in the field, but also to the entrepreneurs, the startup founders, and the small businesses trying to make it through their fiscal year.
The People Behind the Technology
Software and hardware alone doesn’t create workforce outcomes.
Behind every platform, program, career plan, training, referral, employer connection, and successful placement are workforce professionals applying their experience and judgement to help people move forward.
That’s why Toomey’s message to workforce professionals during Workforce Development Month is a simple one:
“Keep up the great work that you’re doing. It’s so important, and we really appreciate everything you do to help individuals and employers every day.”
As new technologies and challenges reshape the labor market, workforce professionals will continue serving as the connection between people searching for opportunity, employers searching for talent, and communities working toward stronger economies.
The tools may change, but the mission remains at the heart of workforce development.