Developing America's Workforce
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Counties play a critical role in our nation’s workforce development system. As community representatives and employers to one in 50 Americans, county governments have a vested interest in building career paths for residents. Amid a nationwide workforce shortage, many counties are addressing a tight labor market by creating educational and employment pathways for groups who have historically faced barriers to job opportunities.
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Counties Support Work
Counties play a critical role in our nation’s workforce development system. As community representatives and employers to one in 50 Americans, county governments have a vested interest in building career paths for residents. Amid a nationwide workforce shortage, many counties are addressing a tight labor market by creating educational and employment pathways for groups who have historically faced barriers to job opportunities.
County authority over workforce development varies between jurisdictions. County officials and agency directors tend to participate in or work closely with local workforce development boards (WDBs) and American Job Centers (AJCs) to promote career readiness. Counties are involved in 90 percent of local WDBs, and nearly 30 percent of WDBs operate within a county department or as a county agency. County governments may also fund workforce development initiatives and engage in statewide and regional efforts to bring programs to scale.
Across the nation, county officials have a deep understanding of our communities’ greatest assets, strengths and challenges. This knowledge is critical to building integrated and responsive workforce systems. Many counties partner closely with local community colleges and other post-secondary educational institutions to ensure resources and training opportunities are aligned with current and future job opportunities. County leaders are directing workforce development programs, often provided by human services agencies or through partnerships with community-based nonprofits, to address the social determinants of employment (e.g., housing, transportation, child care) as well as job skills. County leaders can influence local hiring policy and practice through county ordinance. As employers, service providers, conveners and policymakers, counties are ideal partners in preparing residents for the future of work - in both the public and private sector.
The County Role in Workforce Development
1 in 50
Counties employ 1 in 50 Americans
90%
Counties are involved in 90 percent of local WDBs
30%
Nearly 30 percent of WDBs operate within a county department or agency
Archetypes
Workforce development trends, challenges and solutions will differ among America's 3,069 counties. In an attempt to understand these differences and identify bespoke solutions to support readiness for the future of work, America at Work: A National Mosaic and Roadmap for Tomorrow, studies the economic and labor contexts of counties and identifies eight county archetypes. The archetypes below can support county leaders as they prepare their communities for evolving technologies and the rise of automation and help their residents build the skills they need to meaningfully participate in the labor market in pursuit of economic mobility.
Major metropolitan areas across the United States and their core suburbs. These areas commonly contain a large number of assets, including corporate headquarters and universities, and offer a diverse range of employment and education opportunities.
County Case Studies
Counties that are adjacent to, and largely depend on, the neighboring urban centers and core suburbs where residents often commute for work. Urban Periphery communities enjoy some benefits from proximity to urban centers and core suburbs like education and employment but may have comparatively lacking infrastructure.
County Case Studies
Counties that are not connected to major metropolitan areas but are economically self-reliant. These counties tend to be anchored by a large white-collar employer.
County Case Studies
Counties commonly referred to as “rural” that are located, on average, 130 miles from the nearest metropolitan area. Americana economies may include a few large local employers in manufacturing and agriculture industries.
Includes counties with economies previously reliant on natural resources or production (e.g., mining, auto manufacturing), that have been challenged over the past few decades by the impacts of deindustrialization and automation. Regions can face high poverty, population decline, low education attainment, low labor force participation, few job opportunities and sparse broadband access.
Located near major transportation corridors, these communities act as a nexus for the residents and industries in surrounding rural communities.
Communities such as public lands counties that have remote tourist destinations like national or state parks and other recreation venues that serve as the anchor for the local economy. Residents generally work in service sectors supporting these industries, and many of these communities are large second-home areas.
Rural communities that have experienced an economic boom from the extraction or discovery of natural resources. Accordingly, income, educational attainment and GDP per capita tend to be higher than that of other rural counties, and the economic drivers tend to have long-term stability for the residents.
Barriers to Career Success & County Solutions
To support counties with addressing workforce challenges, NACo conducted a series of interviews to catalog barriers and solutions for workforce development. Interview participants consisted of workforce development leaders representing 14 counties across a variety of regions, including eight from NACo’s Counties for Career Success cohort. Participants were asked to identify the top barriers to career success and engagement in their programs, as well as successful and replicable solutions.
Barriers
Several themes emerged regarding barriers to workforce development, including lack of supports and accommodations needed to engage in work, skill mismatch or inability to transfer credentials, and lack of stable funds needed to provide support for residents.
The most frequently mentioned barrier to workforce development was transportation. Counties explained that limited public transportation infrastructure and geographic spread prevent access to programs and ability to reliably attend school or work. While counties exist on a rural-urban continuum, even suburban or urban counties can involve an economic center surrounded by transportation-sparse suburbs or rural areas. At times, the issue is the opposite: manufacturing plants and work sites may be located in outlying areas, while the population center is elsewhere. Often, low-income and marginalized county residents face disproportionate barriers to obtaining a vehicle or driver’s license or spend hours traveling on limited public transit.
County Case Studies
In counties with a high cost of living, housing instability can be a major barrier to education and employment participation. This further compounds transportation barriers, as affordable housing is often a long distance from economic centers. Several of the counties represented in this resource have high-cost housing. In addition to the local solutions described in this resource, NACo’s Housing Solutions Matchmaker Tool provides counties with diagnostics and policy recommendations to support a healthy housing market.
County Case Studies
Child care was mentioned as a barrier in nearly every county interview. Due to a nationwide shortage in the child care workforce, early care and education have often become unaffordable or unavailable altogether. A lack of child care limits working parents’ or guardians’ availability to participate in training programs or work. There is a specific dearth of child care availability outside of the traditional 9-to-5 workday, which impacts those interested in taking night classes or working evening shifts. As a result, jobseekers with child care needs may prioritize staying home to care for children over seeking education or employment.
County Case Studies
Individuals who have been historically marginalized from education and employment often face barriers in obtaining or maintaining employment due to a lack of ‘essential workplace skills’ such as eye contact, punctuality and digital literacy. Without addressing this barrier, even learners who have been connected with job opportunities may encounter difficulties maintaining them.
County Case Studies
Many county residents, especially those that live in relatively urban counties (i.e., Urban Centers and Core Suburbs and Urban Periphery archetypes) are challenged with barriers unique to immigrants, refugees and New Americans. Many individuals who hold academic degrees and professional experience from other countries struggle to have their credentials recognized in the United States. In the workplace, New Americans can face language and cultural barriers that affect hiring and career growth. Immigrant workforce development is especially of concern in counties like Harris County, Texas, where more than a quarter of the population is born outside of the U.S.
County Case Studies
Workforce development leaders across counties mentioned that sparse, inconsistent and compliance-driven funding can limit their ability to deliver holistic and sustainable services. When focused solely on training and job placement, funding sources can miss opportunities to provide basic needs and services to learners that support their long-term professional development. The more flexible funding sources, such as philanthropic grants and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, are often time-limited, making them difficult to rely on.
County Case Studies
Solutions
In response to these barriers, counties are implementing a variety of strategies to increase access to education and employment. The following 14 case studies provide examples of how counties are addressing each of the barriers described above.
County Case Studies
To support counties with addressing workforce challenges, NACo conducted a series of interviews to catalog barriers and solutions for workforce development. Interview participants consisted of workforce development leaders representing 14 counties across a variety of regions, including eight from NACo’s Counties for Career Success cohort. Participants were asked to identify the top barriers to career success and engagement in their programs, as well as successful and replicable solutions.
Across interviews, several themes emerged regarding counties’ reported barriers and solutions to workforce development.
Explore the County Case Studies
- City and County of Broomfield, Colo.
- Cass County, N.D.
- Douglas County, Neb.
- Durham County, N.C.
- Hamilton County, Tenn.
- Harris County, Texas
- City and County of Honolulu, Hawai’i
- Howard County, Md.
- Lancaster County, Neb.
- Maricopa County, Ariz.
- Mobile County, Ala.
- Salt Lake County, Utah
- Saratoga County, N.Y.
- Warren County, Ohio
Featured Initiative
Counties for Career Success
The Counties for Career Success (C4CS) initiative supported counties in enhancing pathways to education and employment. The 2023-2024 C4CS cohort received technical assistance, expert guidance and peer learning opportunities to develop cross-sector plans that improve job access and learning opportunities for residents.
Resource
Building Career Pathways for County Residents
Featured Initiative
NACo Workforce Network
Counties offer competitive benefits and enriching careers but face a nationwide workforce shortage of 100,000 jobs. The NACo Workforce Network provides a platform to share resources, best practices, and learning opportunities in human resources and benefits, aiming to attract and retain a talented public service workforce.
Resource
WIOA 101: Counties and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
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