United States Employment Service

The US Employment Service (ES) is the national system of public employment offices, managed by state workforce agencies and their localities, and funded by the Department of Labor.^[1] It is supervised by the Employment and Training Administration and was established by the Wagner–Peyser Act of 1933.

Although the Employment Service is only one of 19 required partners in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) One-Stop delivery system, its central mission—to facilitate the match between individuals seeking work and employers seeking workers—makes it critical to the functioning of the workforce development system under WIOA.^[2] To this end, one of the key functions played by the ES is to deliver many of the "career services" established by WIOA. ES staff often are the first to assist individuals seeking employment assistance and refer individuals to other programs in the One-Stop system of partners.

Services provided by the ES include:

• Labor exchange services (e.g., counseling, job search and placement assistance, labor market information)
• Program evaluation
• Recruitment and technical services for employers
• Work tests for the state unemployment compensation system, and
• Referral of unemployment insurance claimants to other federal workforce development resources

Labor exchange services are provided via three tiers of service delivery:

• Self-service—typically electronic databases of job openings
• Facilitated self-help—access to self-service tools, e.g., computers, resume-writing software, fax machines, photocopiers, and Internet-based tools
• Staff-assisted service—
  • One-on-one services for job seekers often include assessment, career counseling, development of an individual service plan, and intensive job search assistance
  • Group services for job seekers include orientation, job clubs, and workshops on such topics as resume preparation, job search strategies, and interviewing

In around 1890, both the United States and European governments created government-funded employment offices to provide work for unemployed unskilled laborers. These services proved to be unsuccessful.

El 1er USES se estableció como la División de Información en la Oficina de Inmigración y Naturalización, Departamento de Comercio y Trabajo, por la Ley de Inmigración de 1907 , para distribuir inmigrantes por todo Estados Unidos. ^{[ 3 ] [ 4 ]} Fue transferido junto con la Oficina de Inmigración y Naturalización al DOL por la Ley del Departamento de Trabajo ( 37 Stat. 737 ), 4 de marzo de 1913, y pasó a formar parte de una Oficina de Inmigración independiente. Designado USES, ca. 1915, y funcionó como una agencia de colocación general. Se convirtió en una unidad autónoma dentro del DOL por orden departamental, 3 de enero de 1918.

En 1933, durante la Gran Depresión , con la Ley Wagner-Peyser , se reinstauró el 2.º Servicio de Empleo de los Estados Unidos (2nd USES) para establecer estándares mínimos, desarrollar procedimientos administrativos y estadísticos uniformes, publicar información sobre empleo y promover un sistema de transferencia de mano de obra entre estados. ^{[ 5 ]} El entonces presidente Franklin D. Roosevelt había creado numerosos proyectos de trabajo financiados por el gobierno para impulsar la economía, y el USES se encargó de la contratación de los trabajadores para dichos proyectos. Inicialmente, el USES operaba solo en unos pocos estados, pero para la Segunda Guerra Mundial ya operaba en todos ellos y desempeñó un papel fundamental en la provisión de empleo durante la guerra. En el frente interno de los Estados Unidos durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial , el servicio coordinó el empleo de prisioneros de guerra (por ejemplo, utilizando prisioneros de guerra alemanes en Gettysburg para el corte local de madera para pulpa ). ^{[ 6 ]}

Al igual que muchas organizaciones laborales de la época, el USES declaró oficialmente su creencia en la igualdad racial en el lugar de trabajo; sin embargo, ofrecía menos empleos a sus trabajadores afroamericanos . El historiador Eric Arnesen, de la Universidad de Illinois, sostiene que, «si bien la agencia manifestó su oposición general a la discriminación racial, derivó a muy pocos afroamericanos a empleos en la industria bélica, cursos de capacitación en defensa o proyectos juveniles de defensa. De hecho, la administración central alentó a sus filiales, especialmente en el Sur, a complacer las preferencias de los empleadores tolerando la discriminación racial». ^{[ 7 ]} In the Bureau of Agricultural Economics instructional manual for the USES during wartime from the 1940s, it reads that the USES policy was, “to make all referrals without regard to race, color, creed, or national origin except when an employer's order includes these specifications which the employer is not willing to eliminate,” and if the employer had no racial preferences “but community custom or past hiring practices of the employer indicate that he may refuse to hire individuals of a particular race, color, creed, or national origin, the employment office interviewer shall ascertain whether or not he has any restrictive specifications.” ^{[ 8 ]}

The 2d USES was transferred to SSB in newly created FSA by Reorganization Plan No. I of 1939, effective July 1, 1939, and consolidated with Bureau of Unemployment Compensation to form BES (SEE 183.2). ^{[ 4 ]} It was transferred from BES to War Manpower Commission (WMC) in the Office for Emergency Management by EO 9247, September 17, 1942. USES headquarters functions were absorbed by Bureau of Placement, WMC, with Employment Office Service Division administering local USES offices. WMC was terminated by EO 9617, September 19, 1945, and USES transferred to DOL as autonomous bureau. USES was restored to BES by act of June 16, 1948 ( 62 Stat. 443 ). Fue transferido junto con BES al DOL mediante el Plan de Reorganización n.° 2 de 1949, con vigencia a partir del 20 de agosto de 1949. Fue asignado como parte de BES a la Administración de Mano de Obra mediante la Orden del Secretario 3-63, del 19 de febrero de 1963. Fue abolido junto con BES, con vigencia a partir del 17 de marzo de 1969, mediante la Orden del Secretario 14-69, del 14 de marzo de 1969. El Servicio de Empleo para Veteranos y el Servicio de Mano de Obra Agrícola y Rural de USES fueron reconstituidos como parte de USTES, Administración de Mano de Obra.

USTES was abolished by Manpower Administration order, December 12, 1971. USTES' employment service components were reconstituted in Manpower Administration as the 3d USES, with the status of an autonomous programmatic unit. Retained autonomous status in ETA, successor, by Secretary's Order 14-75, November 12, 1975, to Manpower Administration. It was assigned, with UIS and OTAA, to newly established OES, ETA, 1982.

• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (H.R. 803; 113th Congress)
• Employment and Training Administration

• Employment and Training Administration
• Employment and Training Administration in the CFR
• Training and Employment Service account on USAspending.gov
• Job Corps account on USAspending.gov