Jobs committee approves workforce development plan and sends it to full council

The Jobs and Economic Development Committee on March 3 voted to forward the city—s draft Workforce Development Plan to full council, after staff and consultants described the strategy, short-term action steps and budget context for the new Office of Workforce Development.

Danielle Frazier and consultants from SHRM Co. presented the plan—s three principal goals: career-pathway awareness and access, skills development and credential attainment, and job placement and career advancement. Staff said the plan is intended to increase economic mobility for residents and improve access to skilled talent for Charlotte employers. Key short-term (3-to-6 month) action items included mapping existing training providers, deploying career navigators in opportunity corridors, validating labor-market data with employers to focus training on in-demand industries, identifying apprenticeship and "earn-and-learn" employer partners and expanding the city—s education-to-employment program.

Staff said the city has already invested in workforce work: the Office of Workforce Development has deployed roughly $4.5 million in ARPA-funded workforce investments, launched education-to-employment pilots, and stood up Opportunity Hubs in corridors of opportunity. Staff proposed a set of near-term implementation steps and indicated they would return with a performance dashboard and routine updates.

Committee members praised the plan but pressed for clear, measurable outcomes and a small set of governance metrics so the council can track scale and impact over time. Members asked for a dashboard of year-over-year indicators and urged staff to focus on employer-driven, scalable pipelines tied to in-demand industries. Several committee members asked that the committee—s approval include a recommendation that staff return to full council with the performance dashboard and additional detail on funding sources and long-term sustainment of the program.

Vote: Committee members moved, seconded and approved the plan for referral to full council with the recommendation that staff supply additional detail on metrics, funding and implementation. The committee vote was recorded as an approval to send the plan to full council.

Ending: Staff said they would incorporate committee feedback, finalize procurement of immediate action items and present a progress dashboard during implementation; the plan was scheduled for full council consideration on March 24.