Training proposal casts a wide net

Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's proposal to increase funding for worker training is a fine idea, say those who help workers and track the economy in North Carolina.

But execution matters.

"The economy is fast-changing. There are workers who, through no fault of their own, are left behind," said Mike Walden, an economist at N.C. State University. "As always, the devil is in the details."

Among the questions: Which workers will benefit?

Clinton on Thursday proposed spending $2.5 billion annually to improve the nation's work-force training programs. Under her plan, Clinton said, assistance would not be limited to those who lose their jobs to foreign competition. Over five years, $10 billion would be committed to a broader program to help any worker hurt by foreign competition, technology or an economic downturn.

That's an important component. While efforts to assist out-of-work employees have largely focused on the manufacturing sector, employees in financial, technology and other industries are feeling pain from global economic shifts.

"This notion of dislocation is not limited to traditional manufacturing," said Jim Johnson, director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center at UNC-Chapel Hill's Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.

From blue to white

"You're going to see this dislocation process creep into the white-collar sector," he continued. "Some of this stuff is going to accelerate, and it's probably going to be a bigger problem than we're anticipating at this time."

Clinton's proposal comes at a time of concern about some federal programs. Funding for one that covers training for workers without jobs has been cut in recent years. Clinton didn't vote on the last appropriations bill that included funding for the program.

And the future of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which benefits employees thrown out of work because of foreign trade, is uncertain. Congress must act for it to continue, and so far that hasn't happened.

"Our members of Congress have been very active to promote that," said Anne Bacon, senior director for work-force development at the Rural Economic Development Center in Raleigh. The group, a booster for more remote parts of the state, is working to form the N.C. Alliance for Workforce Competitiveness to spotlight training issues.

Bacon declined to comment on Clinton's plan because she hasn't seen the details. But, she added: "We're interested in any bold plan. There is definitely a need."