|
 Printer-Friendly Version
WASHINGTON-Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today
called on the nation's public and private leaders to wake up to trends that are
shaping our workforce as the Labor Department convened the Summit on the 21st
Century Workforce. President George W. Bush, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan, organized labor leaders and business leaders also delivered remarks.
"America needs a wake-up call about its workforce," Chao
told summit participants at Washington, D.C.'s MCI Center. "There will be huge
economic consequences if we don't address demographic changes in the workforce
and technological changes in the workplace. We need America's workers,
employers and unions to start working now on challenges that lie just beyond
the horizon."
"My hope is that starting with today's summit, we can be a
catalyst for positive change in our workforce. We also need to identify where
the government needs to get out of the way of change, freeing workers to choose
the work arrangements that best suit their needs."
The summit was the first step in Chao's 21st Century
Workforce Initiative, which she and the president have created to focus the
federal government on issues that affect the modern workforce. At today's
summit, President Bush announced he would sign a new Executive Order creating
the Office of the 21st Century Workforce at the Department of Labor.
Chao also announced major initiatives at today's summit:
· Secretary of Education Rod Paige joined Chao in
announcing joint ventures between the Departments of Education and Labor. These
include enhanced reading and math skills for adult workers and a program for
at-risk youth participating in the DOL Job Corps to earn high school diplomas
through distance learning and local public schools.
· A new website to help Americans with disabilities
enter the workforce. It contains comprehensive information on the President's
New Freedom Initiative programs and services.
· A new joint venture with Monster.com to share
information and other resources with America's Job Bank, a national employment
search program of the Department.
In addition to the proceedings on the floor, the Summit was
host to a regional Job Fair that featured more than 125 local employers. Noting
that the Summit was actually enabling job seekers to find work, Chao said: "We
are discussing the theoretical and offering the practical."
# # #
______________________________________________________________________________
| 
