A proposed change in the way the government does business with workforce development agencies could cost Michigan thousands of jobs.
Administrators for the Michigan Works! agency are sounding an alarm and explaining the problem. There’s a small business in Pontiac that relies heavily on Michigan Works for training and employees.
The administrators for Michigan Works said if it goes through it will be hard for employers to find talent and for talent to get the training to find jobs.
The proposed Wagner-Peyser Act change means the federal government wants to change how certain workforce development agencies are funded, taking local control away and consolidating that control at the state level.
On the street level, that means agencies will be forced to change how they support workers and companies that have depended on this agency for nearly 50 years.
Not only would the people who help people find and train for skilled labor jobs lose their jobs, but with the staff and program reduction fewer people will have access for job searches and training.
So, Barron industries in Oxford, for instance, has 70 employees working in the aerospace industry. If this funding shift does happen, it means those programs and employees coming through the local Michigan Works pipeline disappear.
At Cib Lings in Pontiac, the name of the game is 3D printing. Eight empolyees service 300 different companies with a variety of products one of these commercial printers came through a Michigan Works grant which helps supply the machinery, the workers, and the training.
As with most things government, there is a public comment period, which is going on right now, but ends next Tuesday, which means the public can actually sway how this ruling goes by dialing in and making their thoughts heard on how and where they want their tax money spent.
Click here to visit the Federal Register website and submit a comment.