My Take: Federal rule would devastate Michigan’s workforce
The day was March 23, 2020. Two weeks to flatten the curve turned into long periods of isolation, survival mode and job loss for approximately 184,000 people in Michigan. But for my job, it turned into working at my kitchen table, long hours and every staff member diving in without hesitation to assist those who lost their job. No, I don’t work for the Unemployment Insurance Agency. I work for Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium, and we need your help.
Our Michigan Works! system is at risk. The federal government has proposed a rule that would devastate our ability to continue helping over 675,000 job seekers and 32,000 businesses each year. The U.S. Employment and Training Administration wrote the Wagner-Peyser Staffing Act proposed rule, which would remove the state’s authority over the local system, in turn leaving employers and job seekers with a disjointed, less efficient structure.
What is Wagner-Peyser, and why does it matter? Michigan Works! uses Wagner-Peyser funding to meet the needs of employers and job seekers. These services and funds are integrated into everything Michigan Works! does. It is the foundation of the Michigan Works! system.
Without these core services and funds, at least 20 of the 99 Michigan Works! offices across Michigan will be forced to close, primarily those serving rural communities.
Our communities.
It gets worse. A survey of the 16 Michigan Works! Agencies, compiled with state and federal performance data, found if the proposed rule is implemented 80 percent of Michigan Works! Agencies would be forced to reduce services to veterans, 63 percent eliminating and 31 percent reducing clean slate services for formerly incarcerated people, and 86 percent having to reduce the more than 9,000 career awareness events Michigan Works! provides — mostly for youth and college students — including the award-winning MiCareerQuest events. No longer would a job seeker be able to simply stop in to their local Michigan Works! office to get free resume assistance, interview guidance, review the job board, or use their computers for job search whenever it’s convenient for them.
We would also be facing a dramatic reduction of services to local businesses, including 88 percent of Michigan Works! Agencies providing decreased assistance with recruiting and retention services, 100 percent forced to reduce and eliminate job fairs, and 87 percent forced to cut support of industry-led employee training collaboratives. This would hinder our employers’ abilities to grow and thrive in this challenging labor market.
If implemented, the new staffing rule would also result in job loss in the system, estimated at 220 full-time equivalents. This total loss of Wagner-Peyser funding would result in staffing funds that are currently distributed among more than 400 staff with different skills and specialties being cut down to just 100 full-time state merit staff, each of whom will have to assume a caseload of nearly 1,000 people a year without the direct connections to other programs or funds to serve them. And jobseekers and employers, already facing transportation issues in our rural areas, will be forced to travel to where that state merit staff is located.
Why is this rule proposed?
The U.S. Department of Labor believes the changes would allow for better support of the Unemployment Insurance Agency when the unemployment system is overwhelmed, as those staff could easily “switch gears” to help on the UIA side if needed. But decimating the Michigan Works! System to “fix” another broken system is ludicrous, even more so when we look at the facts of what happened the last time the unemployment system was overwhelmed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 500 Michigan Works! staff proved their effectiveness, as they shifted their roles overnight to assist the Michigan UIA and managed 1.3 million phone calls, supported 6,447 claims, and unlocked 64,375 accounts.
But you and I are not without power. Residents, elected officials, business owners and leaders can speak and be heard. A public comment period is open until June 21, 2022. Visit the federal register website, regulations.gov, and search for Wagner-Peyser to leave a public comment about why you want Michigan’s workforce system to stay as it is. Share your experiences, and take action to protect those who protect and support so many others in our communities.
— Jessica Topp is a planning and program manager at Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium, an organization that provides free employment services to improve the region’s workforce. Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium and its Emmet County counterpart, Northwest Michigan Works!, partners with job seekers to enhance their education, help find employment, and expand career opportunities, and with employers to develop recruiting, training, and retention strategies.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: My Take: Federal rule would devastate Michigan’s workforce
