Career Pathway and Cluster Skill Development: Promising Models from the United States

In the United States, local and regional government agencies have increasingly adopted industry cluster approaches to economic development and a similar move is surfacing in the employment and workforce development field. Career cluster/pathway approaches are important in a complex and fragmented labour market where employees no longer move in a straight line within one company, but rather move vertically and horizontally around a set of jobs. This paper provides examples of models that have been implemented at the local and state level. Then, some key lessons are drawn for policy makers regarding their use in skills development approaches.