The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of satisfaction of dislocated workers served by WIN Job Centers in the Mississippi Corridor Consortium. Four WIN Job Centers participated in this study: Northeast Mississippi Community College WIN Job Center in Corinth, Northwest Mississippi Community College WIN Job Center in Oxford, Itawamba Community College WIN Job Center in Tupelo, and the Golden Triangle WIN Job Center in Columbus that is operated by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. This study was concerned with the following variables: facilities, staff, services, self-service facilities, and overall level of satisfaction. A survey design was employed in this study to collect and analyze the data. From the four WIN Job Centers, a total of 159 surveys were collected in the ten week period. An instrument created and utilized by the North Carolina Employment Security System titled “Customer Satisfaction Survey” was used to collect the data. The instrument was tested for internal consistency, and the Cronbach alpha coefficient was .793. The data collected from the surveys were tested using the One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Among conclusions for this study were the following: each of the four WIN Job Centers rated in the Excellent to Good rating in satisfaction for each of the following areas: staff, facilities, services, self-service facilities, and overall satisfaction; of the five null hypotheses, three were rejected due to there being a statistically significant difference in at least one of the centers with regards to facilities, staff, and services.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 created programs to promote gainful employment across the United States. Extant studies on WIA's effectiveness have not examined youth workers, however, and youths are excluded from federal and Texas employment measures. This study was designed to address a research gap regarding postprogram employment outcomes for WIA youths and the types of services received: remedial or remedial plus job training. The study was guided by the theory of experiential learning and examined prior work experience as a variable, using a quasi-experimental design and secondary data. Data were obtained from the Texas Workforce Commission's database and the Unemployment Insurance wage database for a 4-year period after program completion, covering all youths in Texas who completed the WIA program between July 2007 and June 2009 who could be matched on relevant demographics across service groups. No significant difference was found in the mean number of postprogram employment quarters with respect to services received; however, youths with work experience prior to program exit had significantly more quarters of employment afterwards compared to those with no experience. The study findings do not support a return on investment from job training in terms of future employment; however, post hoc nonparametric analyses suggest such services might be helpful to youths without prior work experience. Reexamination of the job training services have resulted in positive social change by identifying more effective use of funds to promote employment among youths, especially those without work experience. Also, this study suggests efforts to help youths obtain early employment experiences and to help them remain employed.

No description available.

No description available.

What is the meaning of the Mexican-American's job displacement and participation in a training program? To answer this question, this study adopted hermeneutic phenomenology as a methodological approach. My intention was to search for deep meaning of job displacement followed by entering an educational program. Ten Mexican-American individuals who had been displaced from their job due to economic and trade reasons, and who later participated in a retraining program, were interviewed. Tentative themes were drawn from the analysis, and 15 thematic categories were confirmed after follow-up interviews. The themes were: Mexican-American Culture, Machismo, Self-determination, Resilience, Union Membership, Job Security, Have Someone Advocate for Their Rights, Job Displacement, Trade-related Closure, Breach of the Psychological Contract, Emotional Distress, Education and Retraining, Entrepreneurship and Problems with Workforce Benefits. The themes were expanded based on participants' words and then discussed through a post-analysis literature review. Recommendations were made to government and non-government organizations advocating for a potential change in policies. Recommendations were also provided to healthcare providers and to U.S. American workers. Finally, recommendations were made for future research.