WIA training: Is it reliable?

The Workforce investment Agency has successfully employed many high school students, but did not deliver the training the applicants expected. Some applicants are placed in government offices and community work projects and not the position that applicants apply for. If the applicant is eligible, then they are hired and placed in what position is available, leaving them to the department’s employees to train them. In some departments, they are not capable of training these applicants and they end up being used as helper or errand person. Some just come to work and just sit in the office using the computer to chat on Facebook or play games. Some are asked to do chores such as sweep, mop, or file documents. Some are asked to answer the phone. Yes, they learn some skills, but the problem is they are not aware that they are being cheated with the trainings that they were supposed to get. Because they are bored, they find other things to do and now the WIA program is known as the free money giver and not a training program. So when they work in private, what these trainees do is cheat their employer because that is what they are being trained for.

Yes, they receive a certificate from their trainer that they completed the training but not a certificate for credential. For me, a credential certificate should be issued as soon as the person completes the training and pass a test. Nothing like this has ever happened yet.

My understanding of workforce investment is, with proper training and certification that he/she pass the test, that’s an investment in the workforce. Why do many locals working in the private sector resign very fast? The answer is these applicants have learned to work whenever he/she pleases and still gets paid. And guess how much they are being paid today? $5.50 per hour and now maybe will go up to $7 an hour.

Back then, WIA was paying $3.50 or more an hour and at the same time the private sector was paying their employees the same amount. The only thing is that many of their employees are getting paid cheaper than what WIA was paying its applicant. What I’m trying to prove is that the WIA program pays more than the private but delivers poor training, where in the private they pay less but provide training that earns them a valid credential, where both employer and employee benefits from.

So, members of Legislature and Gov. Inos, the question is how can we invest in the local workforce? The answer is to put them in private, have them practice hands-on, and if they don’t perform, introduce a law that will regulate such behavior, where the applicant can be penalized for not completing the training. Instead of placing them in the government where they get cheated with the trainings they need.

Believe me, our children will appreciate and respect their employer as well as themselves. Why? Because it benefits them bas well as their employer.

Winnie Atalig
San Jose, Tinian