Matthew Falconer; Florida’s Unemployment Reforms
By Matthew Falconer
I was honored to be appointed to the Board of Directors of Workforce Florida by Governor Rick Scott. Workforce Florida is the state agency that oversees unemployment agencies in the State of Florida and sets policy. With nearly 1,000,000 Floridians out of work, Workforce Florida plays a key role in getting people back to work.
In researching other states programs I found “Georgia Works,” where people receiving unemployment benefits must receive on the job training. Other ideas to increase the skills for people out of work include; requirement for GED high school diploma and internship at qualified employers. If people are out of work for an extended period of time their skills erode making it harder and harder to find employment.
All of these reforms have merit and are being implemented somewhere in America. But the fundamental problem is there are still not enough high quality jobs in Florida. Yes, a person with a college degree can get a job at $8.50 per hour working for Disney, but that is not a career. What Floridians want and deserve are rewarding careers.
Some people will receive training for a new industry and create a new career opportunity in fields like medicine. Others will move into high tech fields and emerging technologies. But 80% of the jobs in Florida are provided by small business. And each one of those small businesses started with an idea and a dream.
If Florida is going to return to prosperity we need to renew the American Dream and encourage people to start new businesses.
The missing ingredient in the Florida re-employment initiative is “self-employment.” With thousands of vacant stores and buildings we need to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit that made this country great. If each person out of work started their own business Florida could once again become the strongest economy in the nation.
This is a transformational shift from the current model of government trying to match people with job openings. Imagine if we created a web site with thousands of small business opportunities and a road map to starting your own business. Instead of “job fairs’ we can have “franchise expo’s.”
As with any reform this change requires a great deal of research and input. Please let me know your thoughts and ideas on how to turn Florida’s employment system into an entrepreneurial self-employment model so we can become more prosperous and more self reliant at the same time.
Matthew@matthewfalconer.com
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