SAN ANTONIO — The proposed answer to addressing the Alamo City's labor shortage may be found in the upcoming SA: Ready to Work program, which emphasizes an employer-driven approach to creating a talent pipeline for jobs paying at least $15 an hour.
The program involves the use of $200 million in funds from the one-eighth-cent tax approved by San Antonio residents in November of 2020.
“We understand the task ahead of us is large and is daunting. Training and employing thousands of residents will be no easy feat. This program, though, is truly one-of-a-kind. An opportunity to enhance the economic mobility of our residents while empowering our businesses to thrive,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Michael Ramsey serves as the executive director of San Antonio’s Workforce Development Office, a new department formed in 2021 to establish collaboration between employers, partner agencies and residents.
Ramsey presented the implementation plan during Wednesday's B-session City Council meeting.
The Ready for Work program aims to enroll up to 40,000 eligible residents, who will work alongside a consortium of agencies, including Workforce Solutions Alamo, to receive training and resources to secure employment in a variety of in-demand industries.
Employer pledges range from a long list of companies within the industries of construction, utilities, education, health care and cybersecurity.
On Monday, city officials held a press conference to promote Ready to Work, welcoming representatives from companies such as Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas to chime in on the program’s potential to succeed.
District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez stressed the importance of centralizing the training program around the specific labor needs of employers—big and small.
“These are employers of every different stripe and flavor and size. We’re all out there trying to figure out how to get more coding jobs and more biotech research jobs," Pelaez said. "But we never talk about, 'Hey, how are we going to get more commercial licenses jobs? How are we going to get more plumbers?'"
Ramsey noted Ready for Work intends to improve upon the Train for Jobs SA program, which was launched to provide quick training and job placement for those directly impacted by the pandemic.
More than 10,000 San Antonio residents were eligible for the program. However, of the approximately 5,000 enrollees, only 1,140 individuals have landed jobs.
Ready to Work will involve a much more aggressive marketing and outreach campaign, combined with bolstered employer engagement.
Unlike Train for Jobs SA, Ready to Work will not provide weekly stipends to enrolled residents. There’s also an income cap of about $33,000 for eligible candidates.
Ready to Work includes tuition, support services, emergency funding, and job placement services.
Contracted partners such as Workforce Solutions Alamo are prepared to meet employer demands in prepping thousands of San Antonio residents for employment.
Workforce Solutions Alamo’s CEO, Adrian Lopez, said he’s optimistic that Ready to Work will prove more efficient in creating quality talent for local companies. Lopez said there are currently more than 40,000 jobs available, although not all pay $15 an hour.
“We’re working together with a collection of agencies to build a better system of delivery for not only workforce services, but the other types of services that families do need to be able to provide them the support to get them access to those jobs," he said.
Support services include internet access, food and other major necessities.
Ready to Work is slated to kick off training in April.