City staff and board leaders gave an update on San Antonio’s Ready to Work workforce initiative on Nov. 2 and asked Council to reauthorize the program’s advisory board through 2030 and approve reappointments.

Ben Peavey, board chair and managing director at Accenture, praised the program’s district-level reach and partnership model: "This is a transformational program that is very uniquely San Antonio," he said, noting broad board and private-sector involvement.

Staff said Ready to Work has enrolled about 14,000 residents in training, produced 5,246 training completions, and placed roughly 3,200 participants in approved jobs. Those placed earn an average of about $44,700 in their first post-program job — a reported $33,000 increase from typical intake earnings. Program expenditures total about $94 million to date, with projected receipts including interest of roughly $250.8 million and a program sunset when funds are expended (currently projected in 2030). The City maintains a publicly updated dashboard and said a revised return-on-investment analysis will be available in February 2026.

Staff outlined three strategic options to increase near-term placement rates: (1) incremental improvements that retain current prime partners while expanding employer-led cohort models and tightening target occupations; (2) an "aggressively refined" list of target occupations that already meet higher placement metrics (trading volume for speed/placement rate); and (3) a job-orders-only model that ties training directly to economic development incentive agreements and employer hiring orders (lower volume but higher placement certainty).

Council members raised three recurring concerns: (a) whether the program’s ROI projections use realistic placement and retention assumptions; (b) the modest measured wage gains in the incumbent worker training program — staff reported average wage increases as low as $0.35 in some cohorts — and whether incumbent-worker reimbursements should be restructured to tie more of the payment to verified wage increases; and (c) reliance on federal funding (e.g., Pell) and the program’s contingency plans if those streams are disrupted.

Staff proposed several design changes to strengthen employer accountability and wage outcomes, including splitting incumbent-worker reimbursements (half at completion of training and half contingent on documented raises) and increasing the focus on employer-led cohorts and on-the-job training (OJT) that guarantee hire commitments.

On governance, staff asked Council to extend the advisory board term to Dec. 2030, add two seats (a training-provider/higher-ed seat and a member with experience serving people with high barriers), and extend member terms from two to four years to preserve continuity; the Economic and Workforce Development Committee had already recommended the slate for full Council consideration.

Next steps: staff will deliver the updated ROI study in February 2026, provide additional segment-level placement and wage data, and return recommendations on board appointments for Council action before the end of the calendar year.