Jobs Forum, Article from

Oakland Tribune

Employment forum explores Oakland's job market

Oakland Tribune, Sunday, November 23, 2003

Leaders express need for more commitment to local residents
By Chauncey Bailey, STAFF WRITER

Job training programs are failing to find work for Oakland's longtime unemployed residents, and new companies should be monitored closely to ensure they're delivering jobs that more locals can fill.

Those were among the perspectives expressed during a forum on employment, poverty and youth at the East Oakland Youth Development Center.

Activists, educators, community leaders and young people met Thursday to discuss issues and develop strategies. They agreed to circulate petitions, attend City Council meetings and work with community-based job developers.

The meeting was convened by People United for A Better Oakland (PUEBLO), a nonprofit group that has engaged in numerous community improvement initiatives during the years along with the organization's youth wing, Youth of Oakland United.

Attendees filled out "commitment sheets," agreeing to attend future meetings and organize their neighbors.

Gene Johnson, an administrator with the Oakland Private Industry Council, also attended. Johnson's organization works with the federally funded Workforce Investment Board, which is among local organizations that tap into some $10 million earmarked for job-training programs.

Forum participants said too often companies coming to Oakland -- after receiving incentives from city officials -- fail to bring jobs that residents can get because they lack the necessary skills.

Oakland has seen about 18,000 new jobs since 2001, according to local job developers, many in the areas of health care and bio-tech. However, local activists claim only 39 percent of Oakland residents work in Oakland. Officials could not verify that statistic.

Oakland is expected to gain another 40,000 jobs by 2005, according to projections from federal labor officials.

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2010 some eight of the top 10 career paths will be in technical fields. "These jobs have not hit Oakland yet," Johnson said.

Monitoring the effectiveness of job training "is not at the level it should be," and high schools lack counselors to help students make career choices, he said.

Johnson said the Cypress-Mandela Women In Skilled Trades, which trains and helps place people in construction jobs, has a good placement record.

" There is a need for youth apprenticeships in growth sectors ... and more of a role for the community in monitoring how job training dollars are spent ... and the enforcement of (local) hiring policies," said Margaretta Wan-Ling Lin, community economic development director of the East Bay Community Law Center.

Wan-Ling Lin said her organization has analyzed how city officials allocated $6.6 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funds for loans and found only 12 percent of new hires were low-income persons. "The goal was 51 percent," she said.

City officials and job developers say too often low-income city residents lack the skills or education employers require.

Alicia Schwartz, 22, a PUEBLO youth organizer, said the forum allowed residents to take a positive step. "People have been saying it's their fault they don't have jobs," she said. "We need a state of emergency declared. There is no bridge to many jobs. That's why we need more community monitoring of how job training dollars are spent.

" Job trainers do the best they can with their limited resources," she said. "But they don't have the final say in who gets jobs. And the training has been too general. Even construction jobs are short-lived."

Kimberly Green, 14, of Youth of Oakland United, was among young people represented at the meeting. "Young people want jobs," she said. "And we think the city officials should support us."