1. JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR (JOBS) 1. Program: JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR (JOBS) 2. Authorizing Legislation: 3. Administering Agency: MDTA Department of Labor 4. Description: JOBS seeks to stimulate the private sector into hiring, training and retraining disadvantaged, unemployed persons and to upgrade the skills of those already employed. Positions are provided through the efforts of the National Alliance for Businessmen (NAB) with the Federal Government compensating employers for extra costs involved in hiring and training the disadvantaged. COMPTROLLER GENERAL'S EVALUATION OF RESULTS AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE JOB Department of Labor B-163922 DIGEST WHY THE REVIEW WAS MADE The Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare has urged the General Accounting Office (GAO) to provide the Congress with broad, independent appraisals of the management of Federal manpower programs by executive agencies. One of the principal manpower programs is the Job Opportunities in the Business Sector (JOBS) program. It is designed to assist disadvantaged persons achieve selfsufficiency through employment in private enterprise. The program consists of a contract component under which about 25 percent of the persons were reported as hired and a noncontract or voluntary component under which about 75 percent of the persons were reported as hired. The Department of Labor, in cooperation with the National Alliance of Businessmen, started the JOBS program in January 1968. Through June 30, 1970, the Department had programmed $499.1 million for the program. Initially 50 cities were designated for participation in the JOBS program. GAO selected five metropolitan areas on the basis of the desirability of including a large city--Detroit, Michigan--where the program is quite extensive and other cities--San Francisco and Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington--where the programs are more limited. GAO also considered the results of various other evaluations of JOBS. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS Overall conclusions JOBS, a new and somewhat experimental program, has been effective in focusing the attention of businessmen on the employment problems of disadvantaged persons and in eliciting broad responses and commitments by many private employers to hire, train, and retain the disadvantaged. The Department of Labor and the National Alliance of Businessmen, however, have not compiled accurate data on the results achieved, and their reports on accomplishments generally are overstated. The most significant problems with the JOBS program concern (1) the need for more accurate and meaningful data on program operations, (2) questions relating to how the program was conceived and designed, and (3) improvements needed in the operation and administration of the program. Data on program operations Reporting by the Department of Labor and the National Alliance of Businessmen on the total number of jobs pledged by business, trainees hired, trainees terminated, Tear Sheet 69-110 O 71-7 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR MANPOWER ADMINISTRATION Number of Persons Enrolled at End of Month in Selected Manpower Programs, March 1968 UNITED STATES SUMMARY March 359,756 April May June Nov. Dec. 58,239 Information not available 35,788 131,858 136,744 63,017 8,540 3,781 57,590 9,001 19,786 32,609 3,788 19,821 38,549 118,007 41,615 215,164 32,498 52,269 9,473 3,764 20,102 32,954 45,837 9,819 3,733 18,997 33,013 43,580 10,130 3,492 18,706 47,284 46,352 312,892 42,057 10,306 48,084 44,055 86,150 41,694 9,887 32,164 3,233 16,359 387 31,637 3,094 13,146 2,191 31,788 43,453 9,970 3,175 20,619 6,186 44,066 9,840 33,084 3,217 23,483 13,410 32,911 44,484 9,734 3,306 45,946 12,137 19,035 31,906 Note: Totals for March 1968 through October 1969 include persons enrolled in Special Impact programs. 2/ Includes New Careers and, beginning July 1970, Supplementary Training Employment Program (STEP). 4 The Job Corps program was transferred from the Office of Economic Opportunity to the Department of Labor effective July 1, 1969. MANPOWER ADMINISTRATION Manpower Training Activities Appropriations History MTS-2 (Data for Fiscal Years 1970 and 1971 Adjusted on a Comparative Basis) 1964 165,522,000 165,000,000 1965 411,000,000 411,000,000 1966 398,478,900 399,595,000 1967 134,300,000 130,000,000 402,906,000 412,906,000 396,906,000 399,595,000 512,955,000 400,044,000 400,044,000 390,044,000 140,000,000 399,595,000 399,595,000 390,044,000 1968 1969 588,939,400 401,854,000 394,997,000 460,497,000 398,497,000 479,678,000 413,088,000 399,992,000 409,992,000 407,492,000 1970 1,883,488,000 1,536,615,000 670,815,000 1,586,615,000 1,451,215,000 |