A Perspective from Main Street: Long-Term Unemployment and Workforce Development, December 2012

The Federal Reserve’s Community Development function promotes economic growth and financial stability for low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities and individuals through a range of activities including convening stakeholders, conducting and sharing research, and identifying emerging issues. Given the attenuating effects of long-term unemployment on the broader economic recovery and the particular issues facing LMI communities, in the fall of 2011, the Community Development function at the Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Francisco, and St. Louis worked with the Board of Governors to design an initiative to explore regional perspectives on this issue through a series of forums held throughout the country. Some of these regional forums consisted of small focus groups or listening sessions; others were larger in scope, with more formal agendas focusing on a particular demographic or employment sector. In most cases, forum participants represented either intermediary organizations that are involved in the delivery of workforce development services, local employers, or both. The objective of this initiative was to better understand the complex factors creating long-term unemployment conditions particularly in LMI communities and to identify promising workforce development strategies.1 This paper reports the key topics that emerged from the forums and offers examples of how those issues were reflected in different parts of the country and for different populations.2Where noted, the paper provides context for the comments using secondary data sources or research findings. This paper does not attempt to be a comprehensive compilation of all the ideas and views that were expressed at the regional forums. Part I of this paper discusses labor force supply chain issues; part II discusses barriers; and part III discusses considerations and further research to address these issues. Appendix A to this paper provides a sampling of activities occurring within the Federal Reserve’s Community Development function in 2012. Appendix B provides detailed notes of the discussions at each regional forum.