Service years are an effective workforce development tool that create talent pipelines for the next generation into in-demand sectors. 

Service years play an important role in the country’s workforce development ecosystem, offering training and career on-ramps in high need industries for emerging and transitioning professionals. Particularly given significant hiring needs in public service, health, education, climate resilience, and clean energy, service years are well-suited to serve as an entrypoint for young people into these professions. By committing to a year of service, corps members commonly:

• gain substantial exposure to an area of work or career path before having to fully commit to it;
• build the technical skills necessary to complete the job; 
• establish the employability skills that develop future leaders and make them valuable employees;
• receive valuable training, certifications, and wrap around supports. 

Additionally, research shows that those who participate in service year programs without a bachelor’s degree are more than twice as likely to go on to earn their degree compared to their peers. Service year alums also begin their careers in higher-paying roles than their peers in a variety of fields.

Service Year Alliance’s Current Workforce Development Initiatives 

• Apprenticeships in Clean Energy (ACE) Network: Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship, Service Year Alliance is working with a network of industry, workforce development, higher education, and employer partners to advance opportunities to further leverage national service programming as a talent development pipeline into quality clean energy-adjacent apprenticeships.
• Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) Enhancement and Innovation Project: Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Service Year Alliance is working in partnership with the Interstate Renewable Energy Council to ensure that WAP agencies have the resources they need to incorporate quality diversity, equity, and inclusion practices into their recruitment and employee support strategies and are also equipped with the knowledge they need to form talent development partnerships with service year programs in their area.
• The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) TTA Partnership: Service Year Alliance’s partnership with NREL provides opportunity for Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) grantees and subgrantees to receive up to 40 hours of free training and technical assistance to support their agency in exploring and advancing opportunities to partner with the service year ecosystem in ways that can assist in building talent pipelines or increasing agency capacity.
• Green Employer Learning Cohort: This initiative is working to further examine best practices for establishing and scaling mutually beneficial talent development relationships between American Climate Corps programs/state networks and green sector employers. The Learning Cohort engages green sector employers across a wide range of adjacent industries such as clean energy, energy efficiency, green construction, sustainable agriculture, conservation, and also includes work with public sector employers.

Additional Service Years + Workforce Resources:

• Green Workforce Connect: Developed by Service Year Alliance’s partners at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, this platform can be leveraged by service year corps members and alumni to explore career and apprenticeship opportunities related to clean energy and weatherization.
• Clean Energy Apprenticeships: Making an Impact After Your Term of Service: A resource to help guide corps members in leveraging apprenticeship programming to enter into clean energy adjacent careers.
• Advancing Pre-Apprenticeship Programming Through National Service: A joint report published in partnership with Jobs for the Future and Next100 that highlights the intersections and opportunities for leveraging service year programming as a pre-apprenticeship pathway. 
• Climate and Environmental Resilience Guide: The section Increasing the Value Proposition by Prioritizing Post-Service Pathways, beginning on page 32, captures best practices and incorporates tools and resources that service year programs can leverage to further assist corps members in transitioning into green sector careers.
• Strengthening Service Years as a Postsecondary Option: Skills Attainment Curriculum: An open-source curriculum that includes useful tools such as the Skills Mapping and Development Tool and Connecting to Employers Guide that can assist service year programs in supporting the professional development of their corps members.
• Leveraging National Service at the Department of Labor: Opportunities for Workforce - Development, Apprenticeship, and Career Pathways During and Post-Service: Strategies for how the U.S. Department of Labor can further leverage service year programming as a workforce development tool.
• Service Years as a Strategy to Develop Talent Pipelines: A resource for service year programs that are interested in improving the quality and consistency of their program’s ability to support corps members’ career and education pathways.
• Burning Glass Technologies: Pathways After Service Report: A report examining what education and employment pathways service year alumni go on to achieve following their service.

If you would like to learn more about the workforce development initiatives our resources listed above, please contact Brent Kossick, Director, Climate & Workforce at [email protected].