WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT• Job Placement: Services that support job seekers to conduct an effective employment search, plus directconnections to appropriate employment opportunities.• Retention Services: Follow up support, to ensure economic success, for clients who are already workingand/or in educational activities.• Supportive Services: Referral assistance to guide eligible clients to other supportive services, includingchildcare, transportation, asset building, and other workforce programs.Welcoming Center for New PennsylvaniansThe Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians began as a centralized resource and employment center forimmigrants in Philadelphia. Since its inception, the Welcoming Center has served over 10,000 immigrants from140 countries worldwide. Because immigrants have comprised nearly 75 percent of the growth in the Philadelphiaregion’s workforce from 2000 to 2010, the Welcome Center has been an integral component of the region’sworkforce development infrastructure. 32The Welcoming Center’s comprehensive programservices to immigrant workers include:• Orientation and introduction to the American workplace• Intake and skills assessment• Individual career consultations• Interview tips• Preparation for the first day on the job• Job placement and job retention support• Assessment and career readiness services for existing jobholders provided through individual consultations• Vocational literacy, teaching workplace English language skills• American workplace culture trainings• Monthly legal clinics about the immigration process and other aspects of the law, with materials availablein 14 languages.The Welcoming Center’s programs and practices have produced remarkable results, including higher retention andplacement rates for its foreign-born clients (a group that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania struggled to servethrough its state workforce development programs), surpassing thoseof other regional workforce development programs working with themainstream population. In 2009-2010, 75 different companies inindustries such as healthcare, warehousing, manufacturing, retail andhospitality hired 310 Welcoming Center jobseekers. In aggregate,those who were recorded as having obtained a starting job throughWelcoming Center earned average wages of nearly $10 per hourand average annual salaries of over $18,500. Two out of every three(65 percent) employers hiring Welcoming Center graduates havereturned to seek additional employees.Two out of every three (65 percent)employers hiring Welcoming Centergraduates have returned to seekadditional employees.32“Shared Prosperity: How the Integration of Immigrant Workers Creates Economic Benefits for All Pennsylvnians,” welcomingcenter.org. Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, 2014, p. 5, http://www.welcomingcenter.org/sites/default/files/imagefield_thumbs/shared-prosperity-full-report.pdf, and “Gateway Jobs in Our Economy: Helping Newcomers Succeed in the American World ofWork,” welcomingcenter.org. Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, 2014, p. 14. http://www.welcomingcenter.org/sites/default/files/Gateway%20Jobs%20Report.pdf.WELCOMING AMERICA | GUIDE TO <strong>IMMIGRANT</strong> ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | CHAPTER 5.3.8
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENTIndustry-Specific ProgramsAs noted, immigrant labor can be critical to a number of industries in the American economy. Industry-specificworkforce development programs for immigrants and refugees can take advantage of developing industry-specificEnglish language training, connecting with a targeted set of employers for job placement, focusing on a limitednumber of needed job skills, and developing strategic pathways to help immigrants establish and advance careerswithin the industry.While this chapter focuses on industry-specific immigrant workforce programs in the restaurant and health careindustries, similar initiatives could be considered for other industries where foreign-born labor predominates. In thebuildings and grounds maintenance sector, for example, the average immigrant worker (8.6 percent of immigrantworkforce) is almost three times as likely as a U.S.-born worker (3 percent) to work in the sector. Similar to thedesign of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers described below, these training programs could focus on Englishlanguage acquisition, helping immigrants advance within the industry beyond entry-level, subsistence jobs,developing job placement with specific employers within the industry. Other potential industries that a regionaleconomic development initiative might consider tackling could include construction, manufacturing, agriculture,and personal care occupations, where immigrants and refugees are much more likely to work. 33In developing an industry-specific immigrant workforce program, one should consider the advents that are beingmade across the country in industry partnerships that seek to strengthen and improve career opportunities andpathways through transformed workforce systems, proven employer practices, and the removal of employment andcareer barriers. The National Fund for Workforce Solutions is an excellent place to find such partnerships, as well asa national funding intermediary for local partnerships. 34Restaurant Opportunities Centers UnitedThe mission of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United is to improve wages and working conditionsfor the nation’s restaurant workforce. It is a member-based organization with 13,000 restaurant workers, 100employers, and thousands of engaged consumers united for raising restaurant industry standards. While ROC is notfor immigrants specifically, the majority of its members are immigrants and people of color. ROC was created afterthe September 11th tragedy, to provide support to restaurant workersdisplaced as a result of the World Trade Center bombings and nowoperates in 12 cities.Foreign-born workers (7.7 percent) are 40 percent more likely thannative-born workers (5.3 percent) to be employed in food preparationand service occupations. 35 For many immigrants and refugees, thefood service industry is a gateway to the American economy andstepping-stone to achieving the American Dream.ROC works with both employersand employees to create a sustainable,profitable, mutually beneficialworkplace environment.The restaurant industry doesn’t contain a clear career ladder (outside of chefs), and moving up is precarious -typically both front and back of house restaurant staff make lateral moves to a similar position in a new restaurant,and it is usually entry level. Immigrants often enter the restaurant industry in the back of the house, where wagesare usually lower. 36 ROC’s job training programs seek to train individuals to the highest level (front-of-house andfine dining position) and provide them with the most opportunity to advance their position. Courses provide bothsoft and hard skills training. ROC works with both employers and employees to create a sustainable, profitable,mutually beneficial workplace environment.33United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Characteristics of Foreign-born Workers Summary, 2013.34See http://www.nfwsolutions.org/find-workforce-partnership.35Ibid.36F. Matesanz, F., telephone interview, August 13 2014.WELCOMING AMERICA | GUIDE TO <strong>IMMIGRANT</strong> ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | CHAPTER 5.3.9
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