Bay-Peninsula Regional Planning Unit (RPU)
Regional Plan 2025-2028
Workforce Development Boards of:
San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development work2future
NOVAworks
Primary Contact:
Marléna Sessions, Director, NOVAworks
(408) 730-7837 / [email protected]
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1 Table of Contents
1. ANALYTICAL OVERVIEW OF THE REGION Page 2
2. FOSTERING DEMAND-DRIVEN SKILLS ATTAINMENT Page 15
3. ENABLING UPWARD MOBILITY FOR ALL CALIFORNIANS Page 21
4. ALIGNING, COORDINATING, AND INTEGRATING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
APPENDICES
Stakeholder and Community Engagement Summary Page 31
Public comments received that disagree with the Regional Plan Page 33
Signature Pages Page 34
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2 A. ANALYTICAL OVERVIEW OF THE REGION
• Current employment and unemployment data.
• Current educational and skills levels of the workforce, the current needs of employers in the region, and any relevant skill gaps between the two.
• Industries and occupations with an emerging demand.
Workforce and Economic Analysis
The Bay-Peninsula Regional Planning Unit (RPU) consists of the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development (SFOEWD), the San Jose-Silicon Valley Workforce Investment Network (SJSVWIN), branded as work2future, and NOVAworks. It covers the geographic area of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties. SFOEWD is the operational arm of the Workforce Investment San Francisco board (WISF)–both names are used interchangeably throughout this document. work2future is administered as a division of the City of San José Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs. The three workforce development boards work closely together in planning for and administering regional initiatives.
NOVAworks, as the current RPU lead, is submitting this four-year Strategic Regional Plan, as required under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 US Code 3123). The plan accords with the guidance and requirements outlined in the California Employment Development Department’s (EDD) Workforce Services Directive WSD24-09: “Regional and Local Planning Guidance for PY 25-28.”
At the Bay-Peninsula Workforce Development Planning Meeting in November 2024, members of the public and regional leaders from labor, community-based organizations, industry, and education shared comments that focused on four main themes:
Skills: The region needs to continue advancing approaches that build career skills for area residents to meet both the job needs of today and the career needs of the future. Through building innovative approaches to education and training we can achieve more equitable prosperity for the residents of the region. Additionally, the region needs to continue exploring the full diversity of skills building pathways aligned with quality in-demand careers, including partnering with community colleges and trade schools, as well as increasing work-based learning opportunities, like those in Bay-Peninsula apprenticeship programs.
Talent: While household incomes have risen for many Bay-Peninsula households, this experience is not uniform across the region. Youth, older adults, and those from marginalized communities continue to be left behind as the region grows more prosperous.
The skills gap is particularly experienced for those residents who lack recent job experience and have one or more barriers to work. Attendees to the regional planning sessions cited English language learners as one group that continues to miss out on skill building and career advancement opportunities. Future solutions need to be person- centered and be equitably distributed among the Bay-Peninsula communities.
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3 Collaboration: There are many dedicated organizations who are collectively serving our region’s populations with meaningful education, workforce, mental health, and social support services. These organizations can continue to find opportunities to work together and make timely referrals so that clients receive a consistent and predictable flow of services, necessary for overcoming barriers to work. Often, these partnerships are coordinated at the local level and are further described in each area’s Local Plans.
Industry Engagement: Many Bay-Peninsula residents lack knowledge about in-demand careers and the skills necessary for them to enter these fields. Input from businesses is highly sought after by organizations of all types including education, workforce, and community-based entities. With closer collaboration with regional businesses, the workforce development community can help residents attain relevant skills and experience to both meet the talent needs of employers and connect their clients to living wage jobs.
This strategic plan sets forth a strategy and response to the feedback of the regional stakeholders, experiences of the region’s customers, labor market information, and intelligence obtained from the workforce development staffs serving the three-county region.
Regional Context
Home to 3.4 million people1 and more than 2 million workers1, the RPU region continues to regain economic momentum following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite local, state, and federal uncertainties. The population of the Bay Area remained relatively consistent from 2022 to 20232 as well as the number of civilians participating in the regional workforce3. The October 2024 average unemployment rate of 3.9%4 for the region is well below pandemic high of 12.4% in 2020 and overall, rates are the same or only slightly higher than in October of 20235.
Bay-Peninsula RPU Historical Unemployment Rate
JobsEQ – September 2024
1 https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/geography/regional-planning-units.html 2 https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-detail.html 3 https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/geography/regional-planning-units.html 4 Average from https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/cgi/databrowsing/localareaproqsselection.asp 5 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
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4 The percentage of the eligible population in the labor force in the RPU counties ranges from
67.4% to 70.0% while the California rate is 63.3%6. The RPU is a majority-minority region, with more Asian and fewer Latino residents than California as a whole. 37.7% of the RPU population is foreign born7 and 49% live in a household where a language other than English is spoken at home8. Generally, in line with the state as a whole, the median ages for the three RPU counties is 39.3 (San Francisco)9, 40.3 (San Mateo)10 and 37.7 (Santa Clara)11.
Population Estimates (March 2023)
Source: EDD
On average, the region’s population is more highly educated and wealthier than the rest of the state. The average poverty level is 7.7%7 compared to 12%6 statewide, both of which are increased rates from the 2022 regional plan modification. The median household income ranges from $126,730 in San Francisco, $151,485 in San Mateo, and $154,954 in Santa Clara12. The economy, however, is a dichotomous one.
Housing and transportation infrastructure play important roles in the dynamics of the regional economy. Affordable rental housing and opportunities for homeownership offer long-term social and financial benefits, making housing an important economic influencer.
Sadly, affordable rental housing or home ownership is out of reach for many Bay Area residents. The U.S. Census published research on Dec. 8, 2022, explaining how households with higher cost ratios have less money to spend on essential goods such as food, transportation, and childcare. Compared against earned income, the median housing cost ratios for renters in the Bay-Peninsula region included 24% (San Francisco County), 29.1% (San Mateo County), and 27.7% (Santa Clara County)13. The cost of owning a home in the region is also unattainable for many. As of July 2023, the median value of owner-occupied
6 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/santaclaracountycalifornia,sanmateocountycalifornia,sanfran ciscocountycalifornia,CA/PST045223
7 https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/geography/regional-planning-units.html 8 https://www.census.gov/ (n6)
9 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/seriesBeta/B01002001E006075 10 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/seriesBeta/B01002001E006081 11 Run for each county. For example: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/seriesBeta/B01002001E006085 12 https://data.census.gov/profile/San_Francisco_County,_California?g=050XX00US06075 13 https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/12/housing-costs-burden.html Attachment 2
5 housing units in 2022 was $1.4 million in San Mateo County, $1.3 million in San Francisco County and $1.3 million in Santa Clara County12. However, the California Association of Realtors reported in May 2024 that the average median price of sold homes was much higher, $2,063,33314. Due to a myriad of challenges, affordable housing continues to be a significant challenge to residents across the Bay Peninsula region, and especially those who are economically disadvantaged.
There is considerable cross-county job travel within the Bay Area, with lower wage workers commuting in from lower cost of living counties, sometimes over significant distances. The majority of Santa Clara County (92%) residents work in their county of residence15 while one in three San Francisco workers are commuters. This is the same for San Mateo County, but the percentage is lower, with 62%16 of workers traveling within their county. The 2023 Census Bureau American Community Survey found an average commute time of 30.9 minutes for San Francisco County workers, 27.0 minutes for San Mateo County workers, and 27.0 minutes for Santa Clara County workers16. The chart below highlights that while much of the region lives and works in the same county, many residents do commute in from another county.
Commute Flows into RPU
Source: EDD
14 https://www.car.org/aboutus/mediacenter/newsreleases/2024-News-Releases/may2024sales (Average of 3 counties) 15 https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/geography/regional-planning-units.html 16 https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2023.S0801?t=Age%20and%20Sex&g=050XX00US06075,06081,06085 Attachment 2
6 Current employment and unemployment data
The following table summarizes the region’s labor market conditions:
County Labor Force Employed Unemployed
Unemployment
Rate
San Francisco17 550,700 530,200 20,500 3.7%
Santa Clara18 1,030,900 988,400 42,500 4.1%
San Mateo19 435,800 420,000 15,800 3.6%
State20 19,405,000 18,359,000 1,045,000 5.40%
The region’s unemployment rate has been on a gradual upwards trajectory since the strongest segment of the post-pandemic recovery early in 2022. Headwinds to sustained regional recovery have come from many factors but the most prominent cause of the sharp increase in layoffs and unemployment post-2022 was what turned out to be a demand miscalculation that led to overly optimistic hiring in late-2021-early 2022, as key regional sectors responded to the artificial shift in work and leisure behaviors stemming from the pandemic shutdown. Other headwinds to sustained recovery have been the result of the impacts of high costs of living, reduced venture capital investment, and economic uncertainty due to the emergence of artificial intelligence. The Peninsula Bay area, and in particular, Silicon Valley, have received a high number of Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices. From July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, NOVA received 117 WARN notifications, SFOEWD 79 WARN notifications, and work2future 37 WARN notifications. This represents 215 unique WARN notifications out of the state’s 943 total WARN notifications21. Affected sectors include technology, biotech, construction, health care and social assistance, electric / autonomous vehicles, software/cloud, manufacturing, real estate, and retail.
Current Education and Skills levels of the Workforce
The RPU and the San Francisco Bay Area continue to benefit from a highly skilled and educated workforce that fuels the region’s economic growth and innovation. But there are major gaps in education by race, ethnicity, and income that stifle career mobility and deprive employers from access to undervalued talent.
A bachelor’s degree continues to be a basic proxy for employability and access to higher skilled regional jobs. The below tables showing education level of attainment by race/ethnicity in the three RPU counties illustrates wide-scale disparities. Compared to data three years ago, Santa Clara County was the only county of the three where people of all races and ethnicities experienced increases in the percentage of residents holding a bachelor’s degree.
17 https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/cgi/databrowsing/localAreaProfile... 18 https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/cgi/databrowsing/localAreaProfile... 19 https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/cgi/databrowsing/localAreaProfile... 20 https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/Publications/Labor-Market-Analysis/... 21 Report pulled from EDD state database: CalJobs
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7 Bachelor’s Degree Attainment by Race/Ethnicity22
Race/Ethnicity San Francisco Co. San Mateo Co. Santa Clara Co.
White 78.5% 65.6% 63.7%
Black 26.6% 41.0% 44.8%
Native American / Alaska Native Alone 28.1% 8.5% 25.1%
Asian 52.4% 64.7% 71.4%
Hispanic / Latino 41.2% 19.7% 21.4%
Source: U. S. Census Bureau (2023 ACS 1-Year Estimates) Educational Attainment by Race7
Source: EDD - U. S. Census Bureau (2018-22 ACS 5-Year Estimates) These skill and education gaps are exacerbated by racial and ethnic segregation that deprives individuals of color from access to social capital, including professional networks, mentors, and real-time labor market intelligence. A tale of two neighboring census tracts in San Mateo County illustrates the impact of segregation on a racial and ethnic income gap, and education gap.
Select Poverty and Education23
Community Per Capita Income Poverty % BA or higher White (%) Latin0 (%) Atherton $186,810 3.9% 86% 66.6% 9.1%
North Fair Oaks $45,179 11.5% 28.6% 17.4% 72.8%
Source: U. S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (202 2) Current needs of the employers in the region and relevant skills gaps between the two Due to the lack of access that many individuals have to relevant training as well as a dynamic economy with ever-shifting employer needs, the gap between the skills needed by employers and those possessed by the community are significant. The RPU understands this gap through a variety of employer surveys and engagement events.
22 https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2023.S1501?q=education... 23 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/northfairoakscdpcalifornia,athertontowncalifornia/...
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8 For example, SFOEWD sends out an employer survey twice per year to employers who have worked with their WIOA-funded provider community. The survey solicits feedback on service delivery and experiences with their job seekers. These inputs are reviewed semi- annually to ensure that SFOEWD is responsive to employer needs and makes industry- informed service delivery changes. From the most recent results, responding employers accessed services such as marketing support for job opportunities. The top skill needs reported by responding employers included: communication skills, problem-solving, adaptability, time management, and leadership. Respondents also reported satisfaction with service delivery and indicated that they would refer colleagues to the workforce board's services. SFOEWD is in the process of broadening the survey to engage employers connected to its in-house Employer Services unit. Additionally, work2future and NOVAworks each surveys business partners at least once a year.
At the Bay-Peninsula Workforce Development Planning Meeting in November, one business shared a concern around a constant need for very specialized skills in the areas of real estate development and construction. Other shared concerns were around job seekers possessing technical skills but having difficulty with soft skills and sector-specific job readiness skills, the lack of which poses challenges for hiring and retention. The business services teams will add this to their overall needs analysis for the region as we plan for the next year.
Along with direct employer feedback, the RPU analyzes labor market information to better understand employer needs. Recent information shows that the income distribution, geographic segregation, and education attainment gaps present continued barriers to opportunity, and account in part for the following skill gaps in the RPU. The skills gaps table below was generated by economic modeling software based on jobs posting analytics and reflect the skills with the largest gaps between candidates and openings in the three- county region, regardless of industry or occupation.
Skill Gaps in Three Counties
Skill Candidates Openings Gap
Microsoft Office 12,551 13,295 -744
Presentation 4,115 4,842 -727
Computer Programming/Coding 3,111 3,780 -670
Cash Registers 2,751 3,414 -663
Retail Sales 3,927 4,527 -600
Cash Handling (Cashier) 2,559 3,130 -571
Structured Query Language (SQL) 2,125 2,673 -548
Salesforce 1,399 1,829 -429
Cantonese 136 503 -366
C++ 717 1,044 -326
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) 135 454 -320
Tutoring 193 502 -309
Circuit Boards 163 451 -289
Mandarin 498 782 -284
Information Security 391 658 -267
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9 C 175 426 -251
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) 917 1,144 -226
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) 229 446 -217
Home Health Care 644 858 -214
UNIX 530 727 -197
WhatsApp 133 319 -186
Data Structures 286 471 -185
iOS 422 606 -183
First Aid Certification 1,989 2,169 -179
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) 10 176 -166
Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) 62 224 -162
Source: JobsEQ (2024Q2, Openings and candidate sample compiled in July 2022) Aligned with the U.S. Department of Labor, Good jobs that provide benefits, worker empowerment, job security, safe working conditions, living wage pay, and skills and career advancement are the foundation of a strong economy24. While a bachelor’s degree is important to career progression, the region contains many good jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree, such as lab technicians and building maintenance professionals. The RPU will increase our focus on those who do not have a degree, especially to those residents who only have a high school equivalency or less. Other skills-related challenges include the technology divide, a lack of skilled labor in manufacturing, concerns about a lack of general workplace readiness, and public sector challenges in creating trainings tailored to businesses. For economically disadvantaged individuals who do not have the necessary work experience to enter a higher paying job, the workforce boards will utilize apprenticeships to create new incentives for employers and skilled career opportunities for individuals.
Industries and occupations with an emerging demand
Industry sectors and careers that have withstood the pandemic and related challenges and are poised for continued, if uneven, growth is described in the chart below.
Many of these growth sectors require workers with both classroom and practical training and access to social capital – real-time labor market intelligence, mentors, and professional networks – to ensure sustained career advancement.
But many RPU residents don’t have access to adequate skills, experience, training, or social capital which hinders their ability to find resources. The challenge for the RPU and partners is to both support growth in these key sectors while supporting opportunities for the workforce, particularly those from historically excluded communities.
24 https://www.dol.gov/general/good-jobs/principles
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10 The following chart contains 25 industry subsectors with the highest growth prospects and have near or above-living wage hourly earnings through the year 2030:
NAICS Description
2023
Jobs
2030
Jobs
2023
Salaries
2022 -
2030
Change
2022 -
2030 %
Change
541511
Custom Computer Programming
Services 113,691 144,176 $289,584 36,746 34%
518210
Data Processing, Hosting, and Related
Services 39,099 51,478 $352,894 13,000 34%
334111 Electronic Computer Manufacturing 62,015 71,339 $425,365 11,533 19% 513210 Software Publishers 63,070 73,565 $334,961 10,572 17% 903622 Hospitals (Local Government) 19,596 27,127 $124,665 8,237 44% 611310
Colleges, Universities, and
Professional Schools 50,281 56,224 $95,383 8,101 17%
541714
Research and Development in
Biotechnology (except
Nanobiotechnology) 27,626 33,856 $265,231 6,649 24%
541715
Research and Development in the
Physical, Engineering, and Life
Sciences (except Nanotechnology and
Biotechnology) 38,115 43,412 $275,771 5,683 15%
621610 Home Health Care Services 11,157 15,378 $50,540 5,511 56% 903999
Local Government, Excluding
Education and Hospitals 72,307 75,813 $120,515 5,468 8% 561210 Facilities Support Services 4,265 6,827 $77,448 5,039 282% 622110
General Medical and Surgical
Hospitals 44,015 47,088 $140,157 4,869 12%
334519
Other Measuring and Controlling
Device Manufacturing 6,664 10,218 $391,833 4,703 85%
722310 Food Service Contractors 13,969 16,889 $56,365 4,397 35% 902622 Hospitals (State Government) 13,770 17,533 $146,797 4,263 32% 721110
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and
Motels 24,009 25,031 $59,775 3,845 18%
621491 HMO Medical Centers 15,196 18,472 $168,755 3,806 26% 424210
Drugs and Druggists' Sundries
Merchant Wholesalers 4,141 5,836 $295,826 3,638 166%
561612 Security Guards and Patrol Services 20,329 22,706 $53,037 3,476 18% 903611
Elementary and Secondary Schools
(Local Government) 52,639 54,138 $81,852 3,364 7%
523940
Portfolio Management and
Investment Advice 16,106 18,488 $453,462 2,670 17%
541513
Computer Facilities Management
Services 5,646 7,829 $331,697 2,587 49%
523150
Investment Banking and Securities
Intermediation 9,301 9,256 $422,843 2,463 36%
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11 334413
Semiconductor and Related Device
Manufacturing 30,042 31,365 $454,357 2,388 8%
335910 Battery Manufacturing 1,386 2,583 $201,347 2,388 1222%
Source: Lightcast (2024)25
Healthcare continues to be an industry with increasing demand. As noted previously, nine of the top 20 occupations with the highest growth prospects are in healthcare. Wait times for doctors and dentists are rising, as is the cost of healthcare. Sutter Health Foundation cited the shortage of physicians as one of the main reasons for long wait times for scheduled appointments. While the RPU is not positioned to directly address the shortage of medical doctors, it can support front line health care workers as well as Allied Health workers. The RPU will not only continue promoting healthcare training through the Eligible Training Provider List but look for additional opportunities to promote healthcare training, apprenticeships, and career readiness.
At a local level, SFOEWD’s HealthCare Academy prepares job seekers for a career in healthcare at no cost. SFOEWD’s program tracks include entry-level and incumbency programs, including Certified Nurse Assistant, Home Health Aide, Home Care Provider, Dental Assistant, Medical Assistant, and Medical Administrative Assistant trainings. In FY 23-24, SFOEWD enrolled 365 participants in the HealthCare Academy and had an 85% placement rate; 93% of participants were people of color and 78% of participants were women. Representatives from some of the largest hospital systems in the county— including UCSF, Kaiser Permanente, and Sutter Health—sit on WISF to provide vital industry input.
Additionally, NOVAworks has been in discussion with San Mateo Union High School District about supporting their efforts to provide career readiness and work-based learning in the healthcare field for students of color. This is an especially relevant need for the region as the diversity of healthcare providers often does not match the community demographics, which has adverse effects on health outcomes.
work2future is facilitating efforts to build a Health Care Sector Partnership in Santa Clara County. The initiative co-chaired by the Chief Employee Human Resources Officer for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California and the Regional Vice-President of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, has brought together industry and education/training representatives who are focusing on improving career awareness and talent preparation.
The RPU was awarded the Regional Equity and Recovery Partnership (RERP) grant through the California Workforce Development Board. in partnership with four local community colleges. This collaborative is targeting workforce services in three emerging industry sectors to provide enhanced career opportunities for English language learners, justice-involved individuals, veterans, members of low-income households, and dislocated workers. The education partners are City College of San Francisco, College of San Mateo, Mission College, and Gavilan College. With assistance from area industry associations such
25 Living wage is assumed for hourly wages over $27.31. If employed full time and working 2,080 hours in a year, an individual making $27.31 an hour will earn $56,804.80.
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12 as Biocom California Institute, California Life Sciences, and the SEMI Foundation, the following employer partners are being targeted: Amazon Web Services, Applied Materials, Tesla, LinkedIn, and Twilio.
Target industry sectors and sub-sectors of RERP include:
• Cybersecurity - Key occupations include computer systems analysts and information security analysts. The three-county region has over 22,000 workers in these two occupations and is projected to add another 500 workers (2% growth) in the next four years. This industry has faced significant instability with several notable companies making large layoffs over the last two years; however, technology and information security remain foundational industries for the region, and the occupations themselves are distributed across multiple industries.
• Mechatronics (industrial automation) - The key occupation in this sector is electro- mechanical and mechatronics technologists and technicians. While this industry does not project positive industry growth over the next four years, the Bay-Peninsula region has strong potential for advanced manufacturing growth for multiple reasons. First, in November 2024, Sunnyvale was selected as the home for the newly established National Semiconductor Technology Center which includes a strategic priority for workforce development. Second, the region is home to major semiconductor-related manufacturers such as Applied Materials, Intel, Western Digital, Nvidia, Infinera, and more. The region is the recipient of at least two CHIPS & Science Act funding awards for factory expansion, with more funding possibly on the way. Additionally, several of these companies are actively involved in a regional semiconductor manufacturing registered apprenticeship collaborative, with a third cohort starting in 2025. Finally, related occupations such as Industrial Machinery Mechanics and Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers have positive growth forecasts over the next four years.
These occupations are high paying with average wages above $91,000 annually and represent an opportunity for the RPU to connect talent with regional demand. • Cloud Computing - Key occupations include computer network support specialists and Computer Network Architects. There are currently over 6,273 individuals employed in this industry within the RPU and the California Employment Development Department (EDD) forecasts 1.3% growth through 2025. Labor market intelligence from Amazon Web Services and its customer companies suggests continued strong demand for cloud- related occupations and a shortage of talent, according to the College of San Mateo.
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13 B. REGIONAL INDICATORS
• State which two of the four regional indicators the RPU selected and the objective metrics established for each indicator chosen. If the region modified/revised its metrics to better align with the intent of the selected indicator, please explain why changes occurred and provide an analysis for the new metrics.
• Provide an assessment of the impacts, lessons learned, and progress on tracking and evaluating the regionally agreed metrics of each RPU’s local workforce service delivery systems (e.g., change in service strategies, improved participant outcomes, new partner engagement, etc.).
The RPU’s approach to the indicators is shaped by the unique characteristics of the region.
Though the Bay Area has prodigious racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity , the region is rife with continued racial and ethnic segregation from a legacy of redlining , multigenerational exclusion of people of color from the labor market, as well as other intentional and enduring barriers to upwar d career mobility for many residents , especially people of color and women.
As measured by the Brookings Institution, the RPU region unfortunately ranks near the bottom of the list of the nation’s 54 largest metro areas for geographic inclusion and in the middle for racial inclusion. The racial inclusion indicators measure the gap between the non- Hispanic White population and people of color on the following inclusion indicators: median income, employment rate and relative income poverty. Geographic inclusion indicators measure changes in the gap between the most advantaged (top 20 %) and least advantaged (bottom 20%) of census tracts in each metro area, for each of the following indicators:
employment rate, median household income, and relative poverty rate. 26 This reality impedes access to quality jobs for many job seekers from historically excluded communities. In addition, companies are deprived of sources of under represented talent, with many reporting challenges in hiring and recruitment. For these reasons, the RPU is selecting the following regional indicators which will best facilitate a coordinated approach to more thoroughly understanding the needs and then generating solutions.
State which two of the four regional indicators the RPU selected and the objective metrics #3 - The region has shared target populations of emphasis As previously discussed, the Bay -Peninsula region has significant disparities in economic success among its residents. To reverse the increasingly widening earnings differences, OEWD, NOVAworks, and work2future has chosen as its first regional indicator to focus on shared target populations. By measuring collective services to targeted populations, we can
26 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/metro-monitor-2024/ The San Francisco-Oakland-Freemont MSA ranked 27 out of 54 for racial inclusion and 47 out of 54 for geographic inclusion. The San Jose- Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA ranked 38 in racial inclusion and 54 in geographic inclusion. Brookings published an updated version the Metro Monitor in March 2024. It is based on 2012-2022 data for racial inclusion and 2008-12 & 2018-22 data for geographic inclusion.
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14 understand the total investment to these communities as well as the impacts over time.
Objective metrics that we will measure include:
• Regional definition of target populations of emphasis • Numbers of participants identifying as a member of a target population of emphasis • Number of participants residing in a high poverty zip code or census tract • Number of job placement outcomes
Mutual tracking of the above metrics by the RPU will lead to a more complete understanding of the system’s impact and closer coordination of services . Because the technical RPU boundaries are of little value to public perception, it is important for the RPU to serve the region consistently and seamlessly. There are service patterns that are incomplete when only examined through the lens of a single workforce board which makes regional coordination and measurement an important strategy for ensuring broader and more equitable service delivery. Additionally, an area where the RPU needs to increase efforts is in creating a shared emphasis on serving target populations that reflects a recommitment to understanding the impact of the RPUs and builds on our collective commitment to partner engagement, equity, and providing the greatest social good to the region. Each workforce board will leverage their extensive data tracking practices and community relationships to first build a robust understanding of the current services being provided to targeted populations and then develop strategies to increase the level of services provided. #4 - Region deploys shared/pooled resources to provide services, training, and education to meet target population’s needs
Among the many helpful take -aways from the Bay-Peninsula Workforce Development Planning Meeting were the need for more services to support individuals who lack experience for good paying jobs and the need for more industry-led training. The building of shared resource pools is a critical strategy to create a more comprehensive service to our region’s residents. The needs of jobseekers trying to overcome multiple barriers can range from securing training assistance, to placement in a local trades program, to a robust set of supportive services to support childcare, food, nutrition, financial assistance, and more. This indicator was selected in the 2022 modification plan and will continue to be an indicator for the region. Objective metrics that will be measured include:
- Number of individual training accounts / grants / scholarships issued - Number of Bay-Peninsula residents receiving supportive services - Number of community partners contributing one or more services to referred clients - Number of placements in employment
- Number of placements in a job/occupation related to the training Focusing on this indicator adds accountability and resources to training and education, one of the most evidence-based tactics that a workforce system can employ to raise the incomes of economically disadvantaged individuals.
Provide an assessment of the impacts, lessons learned, and progress on tracking and evaluating the regionally agreed metrics of each RPU’s local workforce service delivery systems.
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15 The RPU continues to find areas of alignment and collaboration for the businesses and residents of the region. Through increasing collaboration on federal, state, and local workforce programming, the system continues to strive together in achieving collective goals centered around meeting the needs of our region’s residents and businesses.
Through recent collaboration on the CAREERs National Dislocated Worker Grant, the RPU partners worked together to serve 650 residents whose livelihoods were being impacted by sudden loss of employment. Through the CAREERs grant, the RPU was able to secure an additional 78 training scholarships for regional residents to obtain the advanced skills training they need to find meaningful work and restart their careers. The impact of skills training aligns with national best practices. For example, the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce with the Ray Marshall Center and the California Workforce Association found in its assessment of America’s Jobs Centers of California (AJCCs) that customers, “… who received training services, as opposed to other types of services, were significantly more likely to obtain employment, and to earn higher wages in that employment.” The Bay- Peninsula workforce boards will continue to refine training partnerships and practices through focusing on the training indicator.
The RPU continues to learn lessons in collaboration and improving participant outcomes.
The workforce boards have strengthened their board-to-board engagement, actively included neighboring boards in regional events, and increased co-planning for resident and community events. These lessons learned will be cornerstone practices for future tracking and evaluation of the region’s agreed upon indicators.
The RPU capacity for collective strategy development and measurement. After the completion of the regional planning process, the RPU will start to review data processes and organizational abilities to track and evaluate progress on the regional indicators.
C. FOSTERING DEMAND-DRIVEN SKILLS ATTAINMENT
• Identify the in-demand industry sectors or occupations for the region. • Describe the development and implementation of current and new sector-based initiatives planned for the next four years that address the needs of regionally in-demand industries or occupations. • Describe what processes or strategies the RPU uses to communicate effectively and cohesively with regional employers.
Regional Sector Pathways
The three counties of the Bay Peninsula region are highly dynamic, co ntaining a diverse range of communities and workers ranging from the large and urban to rural and coastal settings. Likewise, the needs of regional businesses are just as diverse with professional, business, healthcare, and education having large economic footprints.
Historically, the three-county region has outpaced the nation and state in terms of employment, but this advantage has become less pronounced since the onset of the pandemic and the economic whipsaw that has since impacted the region. Nonetheless, the highly interconnected region has common industries and career pathways which affect all Attachment 2
16 three counties. Additionally, education and training providers offer their services regionally, further integrating the sector pathways that employers rely upon.
While there are plenty of high paying industries and career clusters in the region, t here continues to be a need for coordination by the RPU to identify and bolster career pathways that offer economically disadvantaged individuals more reliable pathways leading to high earning occupations. In coordination with education partners, economic development organizations, businesses, labor partners, and community-based organizations, the RPU sets forth in the following responses an analysis and key strategies for promoting regional sector pathways. Of course, the RPU will continue to take a dynamic approach that will be responsive to the needs of industry, workers, and economic conditions which require the workforce systems to pivot and be responsive.
Identify the in-demand industry sectors or occupations for the region.
The top in -demand regional occupations range from maintenance workers, healthcare workers, and clerks to computer network support specialists , bus drivers, and manage rs.
The table lists the top 20 in -demand occupations for the region for 2023 -2030, excluding positions which require a bachelor’s degree or higher. As illustrated in the table below, which represents a snapshot of total jobs, there continue s to be many jobs with living wages available to region that don’t require a degree, . However, all but one occupation requires a high school diploma or equivalent. The higher wage occupations also enjoy significantly lower unemployment rates than the lower wage occupations.
Top 20 In-Demand Occupations by Employment Numbers in the Bay-Peninsula RPU (2024) SOC Description
2023
Jobs
2030
Jobs
2023 -
2030 %
Change
Median
Hourly
Earnings
Typical Entry
Level
Education
41-3091
Sales Representatives of
Services, Except Advertising,
Insurance, Financial Services,
and Travel 27,769 30,071 8% $50.39
High school
diploma or
equivalent
49-9071
Maintenance and Repair
Workers, General 15,707 16,777 7% $30.53
High school
diploma or
equivalent
15-1232
Computer User Support
Specialists 12,737 15,115 19% $39.97
Some college,
no degree
31-9092 Medical Assistants 11,657 13,307 14% $29.80
Postsecondar
y nondegree
award
43-6013
Medical Secretaries and
Administrative Assistants 11,514 12,657 10% $29.84
High school
diploma or
equivalent
47-2111 Electricians 8,425 9,487 13% $49.04
High school
diploma or
equivalent
Attachment 2
17 47-2061 Construction Laborers 8,397 8,870 6% $32.77
No formal
educational
credential
47-1011
First-Line Supervisors of
Construction Trades and
Extraction Workers 7,621 8,009 5% $54.30
High school
diploma or
equivalent
33-3051
Police and Sheriff's Patrol
Officers 7,255 7,696 6% $69.32
High school
diploma or
equivalent
29-2061
Licensed Practical and
Licensed Vocational Nurses 6,614 7,508 14% $41.93
Postsecondar
y nondegree
award
25-3021 Self-Enrichment Teachers 6,718 7,207 7% $29.71
High school
diploma or
equivalent
43-5061
Production, Planning, and
Expediting Clerks 6,333 6,731 6% $34.78
High school
diploma or
equivalent
31-9091 Dental Assistants 5,903 6,215 5% $30.75
Postsecondar
y nondegree
award
11-9051 Food Service Managers 5,587 6,083 9% $39.41
High school
diploma or
equivalent
39-9031
Exercise Trainers and Group
Fitness Instructors 5,061 5,773 14% $35.62
High school
diploma or
equivalent
53-3052
Bus Drivers, Transit and
Intercity 4,633 4,911 6% $41.14
High school
diploma or
equivalent
51-1011
First-Line Supervisors of
Production and Operating
Workers 4,366 4,637 6% $41.29
High school
diploma or
equivalent
35-1011 Chefs and Head Cooks 4,029 4,383 9% $31.93
High school
diploma or
equivalent
49-9021
Heating, Air Conditioning,
and Refrigeration Mechanics
and Installers 3,587 3,791 6% $37.70
Postsecondar
y nondegree
award
15-1231
Computer Network Support
Specialists 2,660 3,215 21% $44.83
Associate
degree
Source: Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division Describe the development and implementation of current and new sector-based initiatives planned for the next four years that address the needs of regionally in demand industries or occupations.
Attachment 2
18 Sector-based initiatives are evidence -based approaches to aligning resources and stakeholders to meet the needs of both industry and the community. The RPU has long employed sector -based approaches to support its vital sectors due to the need that businesses have for skilled talent. The Bay -Peninsula region is resourced with dedicated community college partners that have experience creating and facilitating business led training. The RPUs are currently running two sector-based initiatives and are in the planning stages for starting up a series of additional initiatives.
Current sector-based initiatives
The RPU has two current initiatives specifically targeted to expand opportunities for higher wages and career mobility to individuals from historically excluded backgrounds.
The RERP grant, cited above, will enable the RPU to leverage employer contacts through community college business advisory boards. Tesla and Applied Materials, for example, serve on the advisory board for Mission College’s mechatronics program. Amazon Web Services provides labor-market intelligence, technical expertise, and access to its customer base for students pursuing the College of San Mateo’s cloud computing program. This initiative will continue to support the IT and manufacturing subsectors through 2025. work2future and NOVAworks are part of a collaborative of businesses and subject matter partners responsible for the development and implementation of California’s first semiconductor manufacturing apprenticeships. The employer -driven, employer -owned apprenticeships share a skills framework but are unique to each company, which obtained its own federal and state approvals. The collabora tive began with discussions between Applied Materials and Foothill College in 2022. Applied Materials recruited the SEMI Foundation, the non-profit workforce development arm of the industry association SEMI, to coordinate and expand the effort. As SEMI Fou ndation brought more companies into the discussions, the National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement added its expertise in technical careers and apprenticeships to support the design and approval of each company’s apprenticeship. work2future wa s invited to the collaborative to support implementation, and it subsequently recruited NOVAworks to help. With recruiting support from the workforce boards, four manufacturers—Applied Materials, Enablence, Infinera and Western Digital—hired the first two cohorts of apprentices, a total of 30, beginning in late 2023. The first 12 apprentices “graduated” in December 2024, and Western Digital is screening applicants the same month for the first hires of a third cohort of apprentices. The other three companies plan to hire again in the winter and spring. In the meantime, a fifth company has submitted its apprenticeship for approval, and a sixth company has recently joined the collaborative, which has styled itself the Semiconductor and Nanotechnology Pioneers (SNAP). Whereas businesses typically compete for talent, these manufacturers are working closely together to find a common solution to a common problem. In addition to recruiting support, work2future is providing OJT support in relation to qualified apprentices.
It even received one-time funding from the San José City Council, which it braided with WIOA funds to increase the level of OJT support attached to apprentices who were San Jose residents. NOVAworks is considering adding OJT support, too, as part of its involvement.
Meanwhile, SNAP has expanded its table to include Mission College and its mechatronics program to explore the possibility of apprenticeships in other manufacturing occupations.
Attachment 2
19 New initiatives
As mentioned previously, work2future is facilitating the exploration of a Health Care Sector Partnership in Santa Clara County. Driven by industry leaders, the initiative has brought together representatives from hospitals, community clinics and other health care providers with representatives from community colleges, San Jose State University and other training and workforce development organizations to focus on career awareness and talent preparation for an industry that expects to face significant challenges meeting workforce needs into the foreseeable future.
Additionally, the region is leveraging $19 million from the Jobs First Collaborative to support a variety of sector-based programs with the goal of achieving more equitable access for Bay Area Californians to enter career education and good jobs.
In 2021, Governor Newsom launched the Regional Investment Initiative (formerly known as the Community Economic Resilience Fund, or CERF) to support California’s 13 regions to create quality jobs and bolster their resilience to climate and global challenges impacting the state’s diverse regional economies. As part of this program, each of the 13 regions has built a California Jobs First Collaborative tasked with developing a clear vision for their region’s economic future.
California Jobs First will support high-road economic development plans to create equitable access to quality jobs. High -road economic development supports environmentally sustainable businesses that pay living wages and create opportunities for career growth. As California recovers from the economic distress of COVID -19, California Jobs First aims to ensure that the state’s economy works for all California residents, particularly those who have historically been marginalized.
In the Bay Area, organizations have come together to create the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative (formerly High Road Transition Collaborative) that includes balanced representation from workforce, community, labor, business, government, economic development, education, philanthropy, and indigenous communities. (Similar convenings have taken place in 12 other regions in California.)
The Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative has developed a two -part high -road economic development plans to create equitable access to quality jobs 27. A regional community planning organization, All Home, was selected as the regional convener and to date has engaged over 500 partners including, employers, economic development agencies, labor unions, worker centers, the regional community college consor tium, and community-based organizations. All Bay Area workforce development boards serve collectively as the Fiscal Agent for the project, with SFOEWD serving as the fiscal lead for the project. The RPU, with SFOEWD as the contract lead, has distributed ap proximately $4.5 million to community organizations through this process to date, with another $9 million programmed through a community-led procurement process for distribution over the next two years.
27 The Bay Area Regional Plans Part I and II are available here. https://www.allhomeca.org/california- jobs-first/
Attachment 2
20 In the Regional Plans Part I and II, the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative identified the following target sectors for investment: arts and culture, childcare and early childhood education, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and sustainable environme ntal management. The Regional Plans Part I and II also identify the region’s major tradable sub - sectors which align with the State’s economic strategy and which require further intervention: semiconductors and computer manufacturing, advanced manufacturing and robotics, biotechnology, transportation electrification, battery storage and other renewable energy technologies, aerospace and space manufacturing, sustainable agriculture and viticulture, tourism and hospitality, artificial intelligence, and alternative fuel production.
Through this process, the RPU has been collecting feedback from regional economic and workforce development stakeholders which has informed this plan. In addition to bi-weekly Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative Steering Committee meetings and monthly Bay Ar ea stakeholder meetings, each Bay Area sub -region met at least monthly for 15 months. As an example, the San Mateo and Santa Clara sub-region formed several working groups and built coalitions and strategies around the following areas of needs:
• Green Building Workforce
• Home Health Care
• Manufacturing Futures
• Worker-Owned Co-ops
• ArtsHub
• High Road to Childcare and Early Ed
• Stronger Entrepreneurs, Stronger Bay
Each of these subregional groups is focused on bringing equitable increases of investments to underinvested communities, workers, and businesses that will lead to these industries being more economically resilient and competitive.
In summary, the RPUs are expanding sector -based approaches by continuing to support sectoral initiatives in the RERP , semiconductor apprenticeship program , and health care sector partnerships, as well as support a wide variety of programs through California Jobs First funding, that will also align with neighboring RPUs.
Describe what processes or strategies the RPU uses to communicate effectively and cohesively with regional employers.
Fundamentally, the workforce boards work closely with employers to understand employer needs and create training and service strategies to meet these employer needs. The Bay - Peninsula workforce boards are led by private sector representatives and economic development experts who hear from private sector employers regularly through these forums. The RPU uses surveys, direct contact, and regional intermediaries to communicate and partner with regional employers. Through creating a workforce system that is responsive to employer needs, the career centers can make matches with area talent and fill those employer gaps.
First, each of the RPU members issue online surveys to their business contacts to hear industry concerns and measure employer sentiment on the services provided by the RPU.
Attachment 2
21 Boards issue surveys once or twice a year and then compare the results with past years to analyze for trends. When the survey results indicate a less -than-optimal customer service experience, the RPUs quickly work with their career centers to remedy the situation.
Second, the RPUs use their business services and management teams to directly engage employers. Staff conduct various kinds of employer outreach including cold call, emails, canvassing, and attending networking events. These nascent employer relationships are then matured by investing time, asking good questions, building trust, and meeting the employer’s hiring needs. Building close employer relationships empowers the RPUs to best meet a regional employer’s needs and improve their competitiveness as a Bay Area entity.
Third, the RPU has identified several intermediaries to help establish links to companies with strong growth prospects. These include industry associations, economic development organizations, and trade groups . In particular, many of the cities in the region have knowledgeable economic development departments that can help the RPU identify businesses in need as well as upcoming economic shifts. In another example, Biocom California, California Life Sciences, and the SEMI Foundation together represent nearly 1,300 life science research and advanced manufacturing community members in the Bay Area. As a newer partner, the SEMI Foundation is another important partner in the region as they were instrumental in helping us set up and run a new semiconductor apprenticeship program in 2023. The SEMI Foundation is now helping the region set up a third cohort of the program and helping us expand our employer base. Regional boar ds have engaged these three industry associations to create connections to their member compa nies. Three major business advocacy organizations —the Bay Area Council, San Mateo County Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA), and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group —are also active partners in the Jobs First project.
D. ENABLING UPWARD MOBILITY FOR ALL CALIFORNIANS
• How the RPU promotes job quality and commits to working with employers to improve job quality and access to jobs.
• How the RPU integrates targeted service strategies (e.g., education, workforce training, and family resources) for the region's unserved and underserved communities.
High Road Workforce System
The Bay Peninsula RPU champions the California Workforce Development Board’s high road vision of building industry partnerships that deliver equity, climate resilience, and job quality. The actions and results of the RPU continue to support California’s high road workforce system approaches and proactively address the dynamics that might hinder its progress. At present, the system exhibits remarkable resources, assets, and organizational talent to make the Bay Peninsula region a beacon of a high road approach to workforce development. But there are headwinds to achieving this reality which the RPU continues to address through the development of partnerships and initiatives designed to bring about equitable results.
Attachment 2
22 For example, the Bay-Peninsula region is a global leader in tech-driven innovation. But, due to the legacy of systematic racial segregation, systemic discrimination, and other barriers to opportunity, many in the region are not able to enjoy the fruits of this booming economy.
Despite proximity to Apple, Meta, Intel, Google, Salesforce, and other name brand tech giants, residents in many regional pockets of poverty have little awareness of growth opportunities and limited access to quality training, professional networks, and well- paying careers.
In response, the RPU is implementing a strategy that intentionally centers job quality and equity in its regional grant initiatives.
How the RPU promotes job quality and commits to working with employers to improve job quality and access to jobs.
The RPU promotes job quality principles that are aligned with the State of California’s vision of a state workforce system that promotes equity, job quality, and environmental sustainability for all Californians. California’s Unified Strategic Workforce Development Plan guides the RPU in working with employers who offer quality jobs, or those that offer family-supporting wages, benefits, safe working conditions, fair scheduling practices, and career advancement opportunities that are transparent. Engagement with employers is guided by one or more of these quality characteristics. The RPU’s plan for promoting job quality is further strengthened by the Strategic Planning Elements of the State Plan as job quality, equity, and climate and environmental sustainability have been important strategies of the past and future.
The Master Plan for Career Education is a significant drive of job quality standards for the RPU as the workforce system partners with education stakeholders to prepare students and adults for quality jobs with career advancement potential. The RPU actively works with its college and education stakeholders through participating in board meetings, attendance in the Bay Area Community College Consortium (BACCC) meetings, and proactive partnership in regional and local grant programs. Workforce boards can play a meaningful role in the Master Plan by helping to bring all voices, especially employers, to the planning process and supporting the skills frameworks developed in the planning process. The result of the collaboration will be a greater acceptance of good jobs and more opportunities to help our region’s residents access these jobs. The AJCCs play an important role in providing career exploration activities to adults and youth and will be an advocate of the pathways, resources, and protocols to businesses. The RPU’s partnership with K-12 and adult education systems will support how job quality is introduced to youth and continually made available to adults, especially those from non-traditional education backgrounds.
The road to opportunity for regional residents begins with promoting job quality and partnering with employers that are ideologically aligned with the RPU. Aligned with the California Workforce Development Board’s High Road Workforce System standards, the RPU is supporting a job quality framework that includes offering workers family-sustaining wages, healthy work environment and affordable benefits, employee voice in the workplace, opportunities to start meaningful career pathways, and predictable schedules.
The Bay-Peninsula region also seeks to provide individuals with access to professional Attachment 2
23 networks, mentors, and sustained access to social capital.
RPU members and service providers promote job quality through a multi-part strategy.
First, the RPU promotes a job quality strategy which is developed through partnerships with organized labor and other worker rights organizations. This co-creation of a strategy builds commitment and accountability for all partners and creates a mechanism to continually reinforce job quality principles. Through these strong partnerships with labor, the workforce boards receive resources and guidance on effective implementation of quality jobs. RPU members also serve on advisory boards that oversee pre-apprenticeship programs designed to provide access for women and other underserved populations to well-paying union jobs in the construction industry.
The RPU additionally promotes job quality through its ongoing engagement of industry. Job quality is woven into discussions with new and existing business partners to familiarize them with job quality characteristics and criteria. RPU members also integrate into business trainings various aspects of job quality to build their capacity for making their career opportunities even better. Additionally, through inviting employers to the workforce board stakeholder meetings, employers can hear feedback directly from the community on the impact that their jobs and salaries are making in the region. At the same time, more education and community partners will learn about real-time employer needs and will be able to better customize their services to meet these needs. More direct engagement of employers will be a key strategy to improve access to good jobs.
Finally, RPU members promote job quality by ensuring services and resources go to companies with commitments to and demonstrations of consistently offering their employees quality jobs. Companies interested in utilizing services such as apprenticeships, incumbent worker training, and on-the-job training need to either increase their approach to worker support or already have an established history of providing quality jobs. One aspect of promoting job quality is to increase the diversity of employees that business partners are employing. The RPU is partnering with associations in the life sciences industry sector to provide access to social capital for first generation university graduates, veterans, and individuals from historically underrepresented communities. It also leverages partnerships with like-minded community partners. As an example, the San Mateo County Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA) champions equity with its members, partners, and other economic development stakeholders.
Addressing the region’s barriers to opportunity will require active participation from multiple sectors. Here is a diverse sampling of the RPU partners:
Organization Sector
Association of Bay Area Governments Regional planning agency Bay Area Council Business association
Central Labor Council Partnership Labor organization
San Francisco Foundation Regional foundation
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network Community education and organizing Sierra Club, San Francisco Bay Chapter Environmental organization Attachment 2
24 South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council Labor organization
Upwardly Global Immigrant & Refugee Services
Working Partnerships Worker rights and community equity advocate
How the RPU integrates targeted service strategies (e.g., education, workforce training, and family resources) for the region's unserved and underserved communities.
The process of the RPU integrating targeted service strategies for the region's unserved and underserved communities begins with first hearing directly from the members of the community. Partner organizations that focus on the targeted populations are routinely engaged and included in conversation so that the voice and perspective of the population is centered and integral to the creation of the delivery strategy. The RPU members then conduct strategic outreach to residents of historically excluded communities and underrepresented populations, adjusting tactics when demographics data indicates lower enrollment than expected. Partner organizations, especially those embedded within targeted populations, are an important part of the enrollment process as they refer their clients to AJCCs and provide support to their populations along the way. The RPUs and partner organizations work together to ensure that not only the customers are served but also their family members, connecting them with other community resources throughout the local workforce area.
Individualized service plans are developed for targeted populations that are crafted to the unique needs and requests of the customers. RPU members employ a variety of human- centered design activities to meaningfully include worker voice and those members from underserved communities with lived experiences. Staff ensure that in their conversations with customers, customer voice and experiences are driving the conversation around needs and goals. Career exploration assessments and tools are used to help the customers learn more about their work skills, interests, and values. During this process, AJCC staff are constantly checking in with the customers to ensure they have the resources they need to successfully utilize the service. If a customer requests an accommodation, staff are trained to help the customer access the resources they need to be successful.
For those customers wishing to enter an education or training program, staff help them learn how the program can be an important step on a career pathway. When a customer has achieved their required preparation, RPU staff will make partner referrals to and from adult education, training schools, community colleges, and apprenticeship opportunities.
Staff continue to provide support during the training and afterwards, when it comes time for the customers to use their training in the field and obtain training-related employment.
The three RPU workforce boards have detailed and distinct strategies, through local plans, for addressing State of California strategic partners. This includes partners that serve individuals who access CalFresh Employment and Training services, parents paying child support and parents receiving child support, those with developmental and intellectual disabilities, and those who are English language learners, foreign-born, and/or refugees.
Additionally, we work closely with the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) to both receive referrals, make referrals, and support customers along the way.
Attachment 2
25 RPU workforce boards have addressed the challenge of building relationships in historically excluded communities by partnering with community-based organizations that are trusted voices to residents. Examples in the region include Self-Help for the Elderly and Mission Hiring Hall in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Mission, and South of Market districts, respectively. NOVAworks has developed deep relationships with five public libraries in San Mateo County’s lower-income communities. SJSVWIN’s partnership with Goodwill of Silicon Valley provides access to justice-involved individuals, veterans, people with physical or developmental disabilities, individuals on the autism spectrum, and youth, while its partnership with Bill Wilson Center connects it with homeless youth.
Further feedback from the regional workforce development planning meeting raised ideas to expand service offerings to underserved populations and continue to make training programs increasingly attainable. For example, it was suggested by one attendee that financial empowerment training can help customers manage past debt and develop a personalized plan for meeting individual / family financial needs while in training. Another comment relayed the need for financial assistance while another commented on the need for increased childcare opportunities. While this is a complicated problem, regional stakeholders have asked the RPUs to explore investing in small businesses running childcare centers as a possible solution
Through these partnerships, the RPU can help connect employers with pipelines of underappreciated talent that most corporate recruiters would never be able to leverage.
Given that the RPUs have both experience engaging industry and dedicated business engagement teams, the RPU has an opportunity to help increase employer access for all regional partners. One of the strategies that the Education Master Plan uses to advance equity is to include employers in the development of career pathways and education programs. By assisting with the engagement of employers, the RPUs will additionally help unserved and underserved communities connect with the skill building resources and programs they need. Additionally, regional adult education partners, who are already deeply connected to underserved communities, are looking for the RPU to help establish new connections with business. With RPU support, adult education can discover new hiring needs of businesses and build new training programs to meet these needs. With RPU support, education providers can take advantage of resources in the Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL) to ensure their training programs are robust and sustainable.
Other approaches will include the integration of community college priorities including credit for prior learning, utilization of industry-valued credentials, as well as academic and career support. Through the RERP program, the RPU has intentionally partnered with community colleges focused on recruiting and serving unserved and underserved communities and employing strategies, such as credit for prior learning, to remove barriers from students and add new supports. There will be increased focus on validating skills and not just earning new credentials.
Attachment 2
26 E. CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
How the RPU is working towards meeting industry and workforce needs to support a climate- neutral transition.
The RPU is working towards meeting industry and workforce needs to support a climate neutral transition through multiple avenues. First, the partners prioritize meeting remotely so that the carbon footprint associates with in-person travel can be minimized.
Second, the region is actively involved and supportive of regional initiatives that are aiming to accomplish one or more environmentally sustainable goals. For example, with the approval of the study on impacts of sea level rise on the entire region by the Army Corp of Engineers, the RPU will attend meetings and help convene partners who might have an important interest in the coastal effects of rising seas. As the study will examine the needs of economically disadvantaged communities, the RPU will leverage its strategic relationships in these communities to help ensure the voice of the resident and worker is heard and prioritized.
Third, originally formulated through the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative, the development of a green infrastructure workers assessment has strong promise to speak to the many stakeholders in the green and sustainability places. Through its leadership and co-convening of the Green Infrastructure Workforce Assessment (GIWA), one of the Bay Area Jobs First sub-regional initiatives, the RPU has engaged with a wide variety of partners representing labor, economic development, clean energy, workforce, community, and education. This partnership reflects the RPU’s own long-term investment in environmental sustainability even though the staff time resources can be high. Since 2023, the San Francisco and the Peninsula & South Bay (San Mateo, Santa Clara Counties) Sub- Regional Tables have been identifying challenges and opportunities for achieving a climate neutral transition. Partners understand the concept of building a green jobs initiative; however, there is still much to learn, including, hearing more from the workers and community members who are directly affected by California’s electrification processes.
Mindful of how past economic transitions can inequitably affect underserved populations, the efforts of the green infrastructure group will center worker voice and meaningfully engage industry. Three of the Bay-Peninsula’s California's Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) organizations, including Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, and San Jose Clean Energy, have been actively involved in the process and are helping to set up conversations in the green energy space. When funding can be found to complete this study, the results will be shared broadly in the region. These results will be particularly helpful for the many education and training partners who play a central role in creating green training programs. The RPU will work with area stakeholders to build training pathways that lead to equitable transitions for workers in fossil fuel industries.
Attachment 2
27 F. EQUITY AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
The region’s strategy to achieve equity and commitments to ensure equitable access to regional sector pathways, earn-and-learn opportunities, supportive services, and other effective service strategies identified by the RPU.
The RPU and regional partners employ a strategy to achieve equity that utilizes multiple resources and processes to ensure that all residents have access to the educational tools, supportive services and social capital required to enjoy the fruits of the region’s economy.
Our commitment to equity stems from a collective understanding of the region’s historical and current day policies and practices that build barriers like racial/ethnic segregation and stymie efforts for workers in historically excluded communities to launch and maintain prosperous careers.
We strategically engage community leaders and resident voices to continuously inform our practices and provide feedback along the way. The RPU conducts community engagement sessions in variety of ways, ranging from in-person meetings, to Zoom calls, and to automated surveys. Through these means, the RPU gains valuable feedback of the reach and efficacy of our service strategies. These feedback mechanisms also play a central role in the RPU’s understanding of the results of our equity-based outreach to underserved communities. The RPU is planning to work together to share data resources and increase our collective ability to analyze data and disaggregate the service data at a population level.
Increased data analysis will enable us to better identify underserved areas, learn about skill and service needs, and respond with increased engagement.
Our strategies include intentionally targeting outreach to those individuals with greatest need. In the RERP grant, the RPU and four colleges partners are serving 160 participants in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties from the following target populations:
English language learners, justice-involved individuals, veterans, low-income households, and dislocated workers. Our participating community college partners add their expertise in providing services to the full diversity of the region. For example, demographically, 35 percent of Mission’s student-veterans are Hispanic, 17 percent are Filipino, and 14 percent are White. More than 60 percent are first generation college students.
While the Bay Area has extraordinary linguistic diversity, English proficiency continues to be a barrier for job seekers to compete for careers with ongoing access to career ladders. In San Francisco, for example, one in three residents was born outside the United States, almost 42% have a language other than English spoken at home, and 19% “speak English less than very well,” according to the U. S. Census Bureau (2023). The RPU will increase efforts to work with the region’s extensive set of Adult Education partners who have extensive and current experience meeting the needs of English learner populations. The RPU will leverage the ELL Healthcare Pathway Grant, which has funds that are being used by CAEP Consortia in our region. The North Santa Clara County Consortium (MVLA, PAAS, FUHSD, DeAnza-Foothill) continues to expand opportunities to accelerate certification of ELLs, representing an important resource for the region.
Attachment 2
28 Dislocated workers continue to be a priority because of the continued challenges they face finding sustainable careers in the wake of the post-COVID recovery bubble. While tech and other high-skill occupations initially recovered quickly from the pandemic unemployment, tech workers and other professional worker have constituted the bulk of occupations in the 2023 and 2024 WARN notices. On the other hand, jobs for leisure and hospitality workers have been steadily rising but these jobs often pay less than living wages. Partnering with hospitality organizations to promote better paying jobs with benefits will be an important strategy for the RPU members over the next few years to ensure there are opportunities for sustained career mobility in all sectors.
NOVAworks is adding to the region’s equity tool kit with the results of a completed workforce pilot in San Mateo County designed to address the needs of the “whole person.” This included housing, food, and transportation assistance in addition to a broad menu of workforce interventions. Drawn primarily from 12 low-income ZIP codes, the initial pilot participants received intensive workforce services provided by NOVAworks staff in partnership with the County, public libraries, municipal governments, and community- based organizations. All but three of the participants identified as either Latino, Black or Asian-Pacific Islander. Each participant received customized job search assistance including career focus, career exploration, resumé development, and interview preparation. The success of the program has attracted more funders and is leading to system enhancement. NOVAworks is the recent recipient of a James Irvine Foundation grant to pilot unique and innovative workforce models. With continued flexible funding from system partners, the “whole person” approach has strong potential to be scaled across the three-county region.
In the RPU’s regional planning meeting, stakeholders voiced strong support for continued innovation in providing equitable services to the region. One commentor spoke to conducting more proactive outreach to communities to ensure residents are equipped with skills on top of a high school equivalency. Education is a key determinant of economic power and thus need to be prioritized more strongly. Additionally, marginalized communities need greater access to work-based learning opportunities, like apprenticeship programs, to gain skills and experience.
Another theme revolved around establishing meaningful connections between employers and underserved communities that often lack access to the social networks which would lead to key employer relationships. This need was underscored as a need for individuals who have a disability. The California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) cites that 76% of people without a disability are employed compared to 37% of people with disabilities28.
Employer engagement and partnerships with organizations such as DOR will be critical in addressing this drastic employment gap.
Finally, attendees at the regional convening shared ideas to create more equitable access to meaningful employment. Ideas included greater investment in childcare, offering financial and healthcare literacy programs, expanding opportunities for individuals to join unions, offering opportunities for workers to learn more about employee ownership worker
28 10/24/2024 CalLearns Disability Awareness & Etiquette Webinar Attachment 2
29 cooperatives, and consider working with projects that are “Greenpoint”29 rated.
G. ALIGNING, COORDINATING, AND INTEGRATING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES • Regional service strategies, including the use of cooperative service delivery agreements or Memorandums of Understanding (MOU), devised to support a more responsive system. • How the region establishes administrative cost arrangements, including the pooling of funds for administrative costs for the region.
System Alignment
The Bay Peninsula workforce boards and partners are continuingly finding ways to partner together and align efforts and resources for the sake of collective impact. Additionally, as the system strengthens its trust with regional stakeholders, more partners are increasingly seeking to partner together and in various ways, including, attending each other’s strategic planning meetings, establishing two-way referral systems, and co-applying on new grants together. Recently, larger employers are being served by two workforce boards who can combine efforts to fulfill the needs of a hiring demand that is larger than a single county can typically serve. Each new initiative that the RPU is advancing collaboratively is a chance to align program design, reduce duplication of efforts, and leverage critical resources. The RPU is the closest it has ever been and continues to build deeper formal and informal ties between each member.
Regional service strategies, including the use of cooperative service delivery agreements or Memorandums of Understanding (MOU), devised to support a more responsive system.
The RPU engages regional partners and contractors to assemble a comprehensive service delivery for community members. The workforce boards of the RPU each play a backbone organizational role in their local workforce area and create Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) to solidify organizational commitments to service delivery. These partnerships include working with community-based organizations to provide social services, colleges, and training providers to provide education and training, and to competitively procure service providers. The RPU strategy is built around expanding collaboration and expansion of access to maximize the outreach of workforce services in the communities with the greatest needs. These approaches cause the RPU to economize resources and align the system along a shared mission and objectives.
How the region establishes administrative cost arrangements, including the pooling of funds for administrative costs for the region.
The region’s successful model of distributing administrative functions for certain projects and initiatives distinguishes between fiscal project lead and programmatic lead. While NOVAworks is currently facilitating the Regional Planning Unit, the program lead function rotates among the three boards.
29 Greenpoint Rated is a rating system for government tax incentive programs Attachment 2
30 The RPU has engaged a broad group of stakeholders in past discussions about opportunities for the system to work together more cohesively. Highlights from these conversations include comments such as:
Break down institutional silos and create more integrated effective systems that work seamlessly to address the complex needs of many residents. Invite employers to participate in regional workforce, educational, and community stakeholder meetings with the goal of better understanding our systems and creating more sophisticated processes for connecting diverse talent to career opportunities with sustainable wages. Employer invitees should include hiring managers and supervisors in addition to HR and recruiting staff.
Create a clearing house of workforce-related resources available to customers. Gain access to data about small business skill and hiring needs to forge sustained collaborations.
Create/energize/publicize high school, adult education, college, and career and technical education feeder programs into manufacturing careers. Focus on creating small, collaborative pilot initiatives engaging employers and workforce, education, and community partners. Test. Learn. Iterate. Scale. Recognize the mobile nature of the San Francisco Bay Area economy and address workforce issues through a broader regional lens.
Provide workforce expertise to other systems – subsidized housing for example – to provide those customers with holistic services. Recognize the importance of family sustaining careers to addressing housing and other social service needs.
Building on its strong partnership and collaborative programming, the Bay-Peninsula Regional Planning Unit intends to incorporate these principles into its priorities for the road ahead.
Attachment 2
31 Appendix 1
Stakeholder and Community Engagement Summary
Mode of Outreach Target of Outreach Summary of Attendance Comments Public Board
Meeting
(NOVAworks
Executive
Committee Board
Meeting)
NOVAworks
Board Members
and San Mateo &
Santa Clara
Community
Stakeholders
13 board members &
NOVAworks staff
Board members
introduced to the
planning process
Public Board
Meeting (OEWD
Workforce Board
Executive
Committee)
OEWD Board
Members and San
Francisco
Community
Stakeholders
5 workforce board members,
OEWD staff, and public
stakeholders
Board responded to
planning questions
Public Board
Meeting (OEWD
Workforce Board)
OEWD Board
Members and San
Francisco
Community
Stakeholders
14 workforce board
members, OEWD staff, and
public stakeholders
Board received update
on planning process
and survey
Board Survey Workforce board Research questions sent to 22 NOVAworks board
Board responded to six
planning questions
Board Member
Survey
OEWD Board
Members
OEWD sent survey to 28
board members and received
10 responses
Board responded to
planning questions
Stakeholder
Survey
Community
stakeholders
Research questions sent to
122 NOVAworks
Stakeholders
Stakeholders
responded to six
planning questions
Stakeholder survey Regional and
Local Planning
Meeting
Participants
OEWD provided multi-
modal participation for
community meetings (virtual,
paper, in-person, video)
Members of the public
responded to planning
questions
Attachment 2
32 Regional
Workforce
Planning Meeting
on November 20,
2024
Community
stakeholders across
three-board RPU
region
More than 200 stakeholders
invited to the event. 34
stakeholders attended in-
person and more than 70
stakeholders attended online
Meeting was hybrid,
allowing recipients to
attend online or in-
person at each of the
three workforce board
sites
Public Comment Community
stakeholders across
RPU region
233 Regional stakeholders
invited
Public notification
period is from
December 16, 2024,
through January 16,
2025
Attachment 2
33 Appendix 2
Public comments received that disagree with the
Regional Plan
Name Organization Summary of Comment
Amanda
Anthony
Redwood City Comments discussed opportunities and tactics for the regional workforce boards to increase training
for non-degree holders, expand list of targeted
businesses, consider more specificity of employer
engagement goals, and increasing the focus of
economically disadvantaged individuals.
Jeff Palin Mission College Comments addressed the desire to see more tactics around collaboration that achieves
collective impact for the region. Additionally,
there is need to build more work-based learning
(on-the-job training, apprenticeships, internships,
etc.) programs across all in-demand industries.
Lori Riehl Freemont Union High
School District
Comments highlighted the importance of
collaboration with English Language Learners as
well as the need for workforce boards to
collaborate with adult education who is eager to
make additional connections to industry as well
as participate in workforce training programming.
Attachment 2
34 Appendix 3
Signature Pages
Attachment 2
35 Bay-Peninsula Regional Planning Unit
WIOA Regional Plan 2025 – 2028 Four-Year Plan
________NOVA Workforce Board________ _
Name of Workforce Development Board
___Rosanne Foust______________________ ___Andy Switky________________ Name of Board Co-Chair Name of Board Co-Chair
_______________________ _______________________
Signature of Board Co-Chair Signature of Board Co-Chair
_January 22, 2025______________________ _January 22, 2025_______________ Date Date
Attachment 2