LAWRENCE — A new report shows that many workers in the state don't speak adequate English, which is holding them back from advancing in their jobs and making it harder for some companies to succeed.
The report, issued by the state's Workforce Investment Board, says the state and private employers need to fund a program to teach workers English and other job skills that would improve their chances of getting ahead while also improving the overall workforce in the state.
"We know that adult literacy and basic education are absolutely essential to a person's ability to earn a decent wage," said Suzanne Bump, secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. "We must create a better framework for providing adult-basic education and training that ensures working adults can get the training they need, and do so without having to confront countless barriers, which for too long has been the case."
The Workforce Investment Board released the report during a Wednesday morning meeting in Lawrence attended by Bump and Gov. Deval Patrick, along with other local and state officials and area business leaders. The meeting was held at Sal's Riverwalk on Merrimack Street.
The report comes on the heels of a study released two years ago showing that if not for the rising immigrant population in the state, the workforce in Massachusetts would have shrunk in recent years. According to that study, 70 percent of those immigrants lacked adequate English literacy skills. Another study, done in 2001, calculated that more than 3 million people in the state lack proficient English-speaking skills.
Meanwhile, many of them are working multiple jobs and raising families, the report says, meaning they don't have the time to attend English as a Second Language programs.
Two out of every five employers, meanwhile, complained in a 2006 study that there are too few qualified workers to fill job openings.
Patrick said thousands of jobs across the state remain empty because employers can't find adequately trained employees.
The conclusion reached by the report's authors is that more ESL programs need to be made available on-site by employers, funded partially by the state and supplemented with financing from employers.
The report states, however, that funding for such programs is limited, coming primarily from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's workplace education program.
It also states that "too few companies are involved in workplace education" because they don't have the resources and lack incentives to take on such a task.
The reports authors recommended the creation of a "coordinating body with state-level policy making authority to undertake the tasks recommended in the report" and the establishment of a fund dedicated to workplace education.
Patrick said he would immediately take action on the first recommendation and await that committee's recommendations.
"We will move on these recommendations," he said, noting that while Massachusetts has added jobs in the last 18 months, the state needs to be ready for the downturn affecting the rest of the country. "It's important not to hunker down and manage through today. We've got to plan for tomorrow."
