Massachusetts treats English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) as a formal priority within its workforce development grants, and the numbers explain why. A MassINC and UMass Donahue Institute report found that about 480,000 working-age residents have limited English proficiency, roughly one in 10 members of the state's workforce. Research presented by the...
Career pathway English training for manufacturing employees turns language instruction into a structured talent-development tool — one that moves immigrant workers from hire to promotion through defined English proficiency milestones tied to real advancement opportunities. Done well, it solves two problems at once: it gives HR a documented, equitable way to build frontline...
Manufacturers across Massachusetts's South Coast region — the stretch of Bristol County anchored by New Bedford and Fall River — share a common challenge: building a stable, safe, and productive workforce in communities where English is often a second or third language. For HR leaders and operations managers running plants in these cities,...
Walk the floor of a furniture plant in Hickory, a textile mill in Gaston County, or a poultry processing facility in Gainesville, and you'll see the same story playing out across the Southeast: production lines that need workers and a labor pool that increasingly speaks Spanish, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, or another language other...