Michael A. Pagano - Jobs and the Labor Force of Tomorrow: Migration, Training, Education

THE URBAN AGENDA

Series Editor, Michael A. Pagano

A list of books in the series appears at the end of this book.

Migration, Training, Education

EDITED BY MICHAEL A. PAGANO

University of Illinois at Chicago

PUBLISHED FOR THE

COLLEGE OF URBAN PLANNING

AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS (CUPPA),

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO,

BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS

Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield

The College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois Press gratefully acknowledge that publication of this book was assisted by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

2017 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949936
978-0-252-04153-2 (hardcover)
978-0-252-08314-3 (paperback)
978-0-252-05015-2 (e-book)

The year of the 2016 presidential election engaged the nation in an animated conversation about jobs, immigration, and trade, or in the lexicon of academia, human capital. Dynamic metropolitan economies require a diverse, trained, and available workforce that adapts to the needs of commerce, industry, government, and the service sector today as well as in the future. The rapidly changing economy demands that the workforce be adaptable and flexible by continuously increasingly skill levels, providing training opportunities, and recognizing the quick pace of job shifting. The quality of the workforce and supply of human capital in U.S. urban areas have been shaped by a variety of forces throughout the industrial and postindustrial eras, most notably the enactment of compulsory public education, inducement of internal migration, massive demands for a rapidly increasing workforce via immigration, and the enactment of public-policy regulations concerning wages, working conditions, and collective bargaining. The 2016 Urban Forum focused its lens on human capital development to address the contemporary challenges that shape human capital in metropolitan regions by examining the role of migration and immigration, K12 education preparedness, postsecondary workforce training and development efforts, and recruitment and professional development of Millennials.

The 2016 event was cochaired by Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle; Juan Salgado, who is president of the Instituto del Progreso Latino; and UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis. The event was held on September 15, attracting five hundred students, community activists, private citizens, government and nonprofit leaders, and many others. The keynote address was presented by award-winning columnist Clarence Page. A senior member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board and a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group, Page also serves as a guest panelist on CBS's Face the Nation. He is a regular contributor of essays to PBS News Hour, has hosted documentaries on the Public Broadcasting System, and is the 1989 Pulitzer Prize winner for Commentary.

The 2016 UIC Urban Forum's external board of advisors includes the following:

Three panels were formed to discuss the broad range of human capital issues. The first was titled Evolving Pathways to Work, and sitting on the panel were

John McCarron, columnist and former editorial board member of the Chicago Tribune, moderated the panel.

The second panel, The Jobless Economy, included

The panel was moderated by Sarah Karp, reporter, WBEZ.

The last panel of the day focused on issues of immigration and migration. The panelists on Bridges or Walls? Immigration and Trade Policy included

Chip Mitchell, West Side Bureau reporter, WBEZ, moderated the panel.

A concluding keynote address on the inclusive economy was presented by Terry Mazany, president and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust.

The presidential election and the continuing controversy and conversation surrounding jobs, immigration, the jobless economy, international trade and the like, demonstrated the critical importance of discussing these human capital issues in a public, open, and interactive setting. An undertaking of this magnitude requires an investment of time and resources on the part of an outstanding group of dedicated employees who invested untold hours in planning, designing, and managing the event. In particular, I am indebted to the outstanding conference management skills of Jenny Sweeney and Elle Ullum, who orchestrated the event with the generous support of Jasculca-Terman Associates, especially Karla Bailey. Other UIC personnel who were active and supportive of the various tasks and activities of the process include Jennifer Woodard, Darcy Evon, Norma Ramos, and Bill Burton. The graduate assistants who worked on this project were Rudy Faust and Jantel Hines. I am deeply grateful to the entire team for their superb job in creating the event and for their indomitable spirit of working together for another successful event.

The editorial assistance and manuscript supervision by Rudy Faust, who was responsible for writing the summary of the panelists conversations ( of this book, which synthesizes panelists salient comments) and who was responsible for the book production process, is owed a deep debt of gratitude.

The annual UIC Urban Forum offers thought-provoking, engaged, and insightful conferences on critical urban issues in a venue to which all of the world's citizens are invited.

Michael A. Pagano
Director of the UIC Urban Forum and Dean, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago
January 2017