Employment and Training Needs of Central City Milwaukee Workers, a survey of 518 innercity Milwaukee households in December 1996

Abstract

A random sample of 518 households with working age adults was interviewed for nine zipcode areas in the Community Development Block Grant/Enterprise Community neighborhoods in order to obtain data on the training and employment needs of central city Milwaukee residents. Nearly half (48 percent) of all working age central city households had someone who was interested in job training to upgrade skills or to prepare for a new job. The most frequently requested training was in computer skills, listed by about a fourth of persons indicating an interest in upgrading their skills. A high proportion of workers expressed interest in evening or weekend training programs, with 41 percent of women and 30 percent of men available evenings (sometimes after first shift, often after 5:30 p.m.). About 20 percent of respondents showed interest in weekend training. Even though the survey was conducted in December when the official unemployment rate was at its lowest for the year ( 4.1 percent for the City of Milwaukee), over half of central city working age households reported at least one person who was interested in finding employment or looking for a different job.