Business Driven: To be effective, the federal workforce investment system must provide for a strong and active role for the employer community. This involvement is critical for ensuring training and employment services are relevant to the jobs that are in demand today or will be in demand in the future.

Less Bureaucracy: To be effective, the federal workforce investment system must be streamlined and efficient. Overlapping and duplicative funding streams are unnecessary and the administrative costs diminish funds that could be used for training. Overly complex federal rules and regulations, which micromanage state and local implementation of programs, drive away the willingness of business leaders to participate and
create barriers to individuals seeking to obtain necessary services.

Expanded Training for In-Demand Occupations: To be effective, the federal workforce investment system must have “preparing individuals for a career” as a main focus. Currently, too few individuals receive training under the Workforce Investment Act, in part due to the multiple hoops individuals must often go through to access training. This issue, along with better allocation of resources and more efficient delivery of services, must all be addressed.

More Innovation: To be effective, the federal workforce investment system must enable new approaches for the delivery of employment and training services and promote innovations that expand access to training and make training relevant, such as industry-recognized credentials. It must also promote positive outcomes such as through pay-for-performance contracting.

Performance Driven: To be effective, the federal workforce investment system must be driven by real accountability that is focused on outcomes that matter most — such as a job. A key objective is consistency across similar programs and the assurance that grantees and providers of services are accountable for results by measuring placements of those trained, the compensation and quality of the job and success on the job.

Collaboration: To be effective, the federal workforce investment system must be fully engaged with the full array of local and regional partners, particularly community colleges and other postsecondary institutions that share similar missions and urgency for preparing individuals for careers.

Better Information: To be effective, the federal workforce investment system must be driven by high- quality data so that: 1) high-quality labor market information drives training opportunities, 2) participants are able to make informed career and training decisions among providers and 3) program outcomes are reliable in order to ensure a robust and fair system of program accountability.