The California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) is the Governor’s agent for the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California’s workforce development system. The CWDB assists the Governor in setting and guiding workforce development policy, developing innovative initiatives through statewide programs, and expanding the High Road vision through its field branch. The workforce development system is comprised of 45 Local Workforce Development Areas (Local Area), each with its own business-led Local Workforce Development Board (Local Board). These Local Boards work together with the state and their local Chief Elected Officials to oversee the delivery of workforce services relevant to their residents and businesses. The California Unemployment Insurance Code §14200 – §14531 and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) give authority to CWDB to carry out the tasks associated with furthering a High Road workforce system. Learn more about the CWDB in the About Us section.

California and the CWDB are committed to a High Road vision for the state’s workforce development system that embodies the principles of job quality, worker voice, equity, and environmental sustainability. Implementing this vision through policy, programs, and other practices will benefit workers, job-seekers, and industry as well as the state’s workforce development system.

Upcoming Funding

Featured Workforce Initiatives

High Road

High Road Training Partnerships (HRTP) and High Road Construction Careers (HRCC) a systemic approach to industry-based workforce development addressing critical issues of equity, job quality, worker voice, and environmental sustainability.

CAAL Skills

An interagency and multi-departmental data-sharing and program evaluation initiative that uses detailed information from federal and state-funded workforce, education, and human services programs to measure participation and associated outcomes for program participants.

Regional CA

Work to stimulate economic growth, create jobs and build the talent needed to increase income mobility and regional prosperity through collaboration among multiple workforce systems and bringing workforce leaders together.

Prison to Employment

Creates opportunities through collaborative partnerships with state workforce programs and the state corrections systems so that formerly incarcerated and justice-involved individuals can successfully reenter society and the labor force.

Workforce Accelerator Fund

Funds projects that design, develop, and implement programs that accelerate employment and provide access to workforce services and employment opportunities for targeted groups and disadvantaged populations.

HIRE

Increases employment opportunities and job mobility for formerly incarcerated and justice-involved individuals through partnerships with reentry-focused organizations that provide training, reskilling and upskilling, and supportive services.

Breaking Barriers

Supplements existing workforce and education programs by providing services to target populations who are often not eligible for other state and federal programs in an effort to address disparities in the labor market.

Coming Soon

Initiative Coming Soon

In the Spotlight

Sacramento, CA – This month, CWDB honors the rich culture, history, and contributions of the Hispanic community. The Hispanic community is vital to California’s workforce, from technology to healthcare to education, construction, and more. Their contributions enhance the state’s economy and add cultural richness to our state. Indeed, the power of diversity is the heart of California’s success!

Hispanic Heritage Month

Jocelyn Perez is from a lower-income Hispanic family in Santa Rosa and worked as an oil change technician before finding the North Bay Trades Introductory Program (TIP). Perez ranked 42nd out of 750 applicants and earned a spot in TIP, where she received classroom instruction and hands-on training to prepare for a career in the construction trades. She is now a skilled elevator mechanic.

“My hope is that I inspire other women to consider a union career in construction because it is respected, well-paid, and offers great benefits,” said Perez. To help get the message out to others, she speaks to high school women, TIP applicants, and policymakers about her positive experience.

“It’s crazy to think that a young girl from Veracruz, Mexico, who had no say in coming to this country and faced many social and economic barriers, will be able to leave a mark in the history of this valley,” shared Dulce Martinez-Rodriguez.

Martinez-Rodriguez graduated from the Santa Clara County Trades Orientation Program (TOP) and is employed at the Santa Clara Valley Water Authority as an Instrumental and Control Technician. She earns a family-sustaining wage with a good union job and is proud to pave the way for other women interested in learning a trade.

Working Partnerships USA, a High Road grantee, partners with the Valley Water Authority to create career opportunities managing water resources. Learn more

Congratulations on the success of Inland SoCal United Way workshop’s Hispanic participants Michael and Christopher! After gaining invaluable soft and hard skills, Michael is employed at Del Real Foods as a Sanitation Worker, and Christopher is working at Premium Windows as an Assembler.

Inland SoCal United Way is a Helping Justice-Involved Reenter Employment (HIRE) grantee, and hosts employment-readiness workshops for justice-involved individuals to help them successfully reenter the workforce and build a brighter future.

Learn more about our HIRE Initiative

Jordan Hernandez, a Moreno Valley resident, graduated from the Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) Bay Area IEWorks pre-apprenticeship pathway program and had this to say about it:

“The IEWorks program and my life-changing experience were made possible through California’s High Road Training Partnerships Initiative,” said Hernandez. “This program has helped many jobseekers like me invest in their futures, funding programs like IEWorks throughout the state and across different industries, such as transportation, logistics, and health care,” added Hernandez.

Learn more

Magaly Lorenzo was born in Mexico and became interested in agriculture when she participated in a productivity project at the University of Colima. Lorenzo received training from our High Road Training Partnership grantee Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) and currently works as a Manufacturer Supervisor for Nature Sweet.

EFI is improving farmwork by helping create advancement pathways for Hispanic workers. The new training curriculum will give farmworkers the skills needed to use emerging technology, as well as improve their wages.

Learn more

CWDB JOB OPENINGS

People participating in a Cannabis training class

Review our available positions below, and visit the CalCareers webpage to learn more about how to apply for a state job.

New to the State – Review the 3 Steps To A State Job webpage and be sure to complete the exam/assessment and state application before applying for this position.

Are you passionate about ending poverty and inequality? Are you motivated to address the climate crisis and social injustice while working on economic and workforce development? If so, you may be a great fit for one of our open positions at the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB).

The CWDB is recognized nationally as a progressive and experimental state workforce department, charting a path to a High Road economy and approach to workforce development grounded in the principles of social equity, environmental sustainability, and resilience and quality jobs. Over the past decade, the CWDB’s budget, programs, and staff have grown exponentially using federal and state workforce funding to pilot new sector-based workforce initiatives and develop policy solutions that address the quality and accessibility of jobs in addition to training.

Click Below To View Current CWDB Job Opportunities:

EXECUTIVE TEAM