Although unemployment levels remain high, more than half of open jobs remain unfulfilled for an unacceptable length of time. Despite the deepest recession in decades, employers are having difficulty finding the right people with the right skills. One of the primary reasons for inefficiency is that actionable job market information is not readily available, nor shared in a systematic, efficient way.

Open networks of organizations can:

1. Reduce the friction that impedes the efficient flow of market information about skills in demand; 
2. Align, link, and leverage resources across the entire talent development system; and  
3. Act faster to improve workforce preparedness and fit.

Regional and national workforce innovations can take place by focusing on three distinct types of networks.

• Re- engagement networks re-connect and re-skill displaced workers.
• Career networks define and implement new career pathways to growing businesses and clusters.
• Youth support networks energize at-risk youth and increase their education opportunities. By taking advantage of modern processes and technologies, these “strategy-nets” can help reduce unemployment, increase education attainment rates, and decrease the dropout rate.