About Us
History
The Monterey County Workforce Development Board (WDB) was established through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in 1998, which was superseded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) on July 22, 2014.






The History of Workforce Development and Labor
Workforce development is essential to any society, whether in a period of growth or recession.
Education and training are essential to bridge the skills gap that occurs through generations of new technological advances. There have been numerous workforce statutes created over the past 80 years that emphasize the need for education and training to ensure a skill-ready workforce.
The Department of Labor (DOL), in coordination with the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS), has worked to prepare everyone for the implementation of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education issued five rules implementing WIOA. WIOA is landmark legislation that is designed to strengthen and improve our nation’s public workforce system and help get Americans, including youth and those with significant barriers to employment, into high-quality jobs and careers and help employers hire and retain skilled workers.
WIOA’s Hallmarks of Excellence
- The AJCC physical location enhances the customer experience.
- The AJCC ensures universal access, with an emphasis on individuals with barriers to employment.
- The AJCC actively supports the One-Stop system through effective partnerships.
- The AJCC provides integrated, customer-centered services.
- The AJCC is an on-ramp for skill development and the attainment of industry-recognized credentials which meet the needs of targeted regional sectors and pathways.
- The AJCC actively engages industry and labor and supports regional sector strategies through an integrated business service strategy that focuses on quality jobs.
- The AJCC has high-quality, well-informed, and cross-trained staff.
- The AJCC achieves business results through data-driven continuous improvement.
What is Workforce Development?
Workforce development serves a dual function; enabling individuals to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes for gainful employment or improved work performance; and providing employers with an effective means to communicate and meet their demand for skills.
Assisting youth and adults in acquiring knowledge and developing skills beyond basic literacy, numeracy, and life skills, which are part of the basic education program, and behaviors to find legitimate jobs, establish viable self-employment ventures, and stay employed and productive in a changing economy.
Workforce development initiatives aim to deliver targeted education, training, and employment support services that allow people to improve their opportunities for employment. These initiatives assist governments, universities, and training institutions to understand and anticipate the changing demand for skills. They also build tools and systems that bring together job seekers and employers.
Formal and informal education systems, economic development policies and programs, and the private sector’s human resource function.
While our population will increase across all age groups by 2040, the number of residents over age 50 will increase dramatically. People will tend to change jobs more often throughout their careers, requiring improvements to our workforce development system.