Guide to information on key strategies, policies and procedures to assist Local Workforce Development Boards with layoff aversion.
"This guide provides information on a proactive—rather than reactive—approach to assisting at-risk companies before they reach the actual layoff stage. Identifying at-risk companies and developing a customized plan to address each company’s unique set of circumstances takes a coordinated effort between all community partners, i.e., state agencies, Boards, economic development agencies, public and private entities, etc... Through their connections with local businesses and rapid response activities, Boards are in a unique position to assist companies in averting layoffs by: - assessing business and economic conditions and determining when a layoff potential exists in their local workforce development areas; - assisting an employer requesting help for soon-to-be-displaced employees; - initiating rapid response services after receiving a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification or other notification; - responding to information received from other sources about possible closures" (p.6). (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

Major Findings & Recommendations

This guide provides strategies, tools and guides in the following key areas: EARLY WARNING STRATEGIES: - Early Warning Systems (EWS): Local Workforce Development Boards may establish an early warning system to identify and track vulnerable firms and industrial sectors that might benefit from layoff aversion strategies. The EWS should identify firms at risk of closing or moving operations before actual decisions are made by the companies to shut down or move, and includes an early warning network and community partners along with other early warning indicators. (p.8) - Early Warning Indicators: Detecting early warning indicators is a strategy that complements other information gathered through EWS and aids in identifying and tracking companies in possible distress. (p.9) BUSINESS SERVICES: - Prefeasibility Studies: provide objective evidence as to the likelihood of an employer remaining operational and, if so, under what conditions. Boards must ensure the confidentiality of information collected in developing a prefeasibility study, and involve labor and management in the process. (p.10) - Asset Mapping: identifies resources in the community and provides Boards with an inventory of key resources in their local workforce development areas. - Business Turnaround Services: provided when it is determined that an employer needs intervention beyond the menu of services provided by an EWS network and community partners. Services are provided through an outside entity with expertise in business turnarounds. (p. 11) - Incumbent Worker Training: designed in conjunction with a specific employer or a consortium of employers to upgrade the skills of a particular workforce. (p.12) RAPID RESPONSE: - Rapid response services and activities are early intervention services designed to enable workers affected by closures or layoffs to transition to new employment as quickly as possible. LAYOFF AVERSION FUNDING: - Local Workforce Development Boards must be aware of the many funding streams available to assist with the provision of layoff aversion services and strategies, and of the associated eligibility requirements and programmatic guidance for each. (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)