Houston-based workforce program founder Mike Feinberg has identified a critical gap in vocational training: while technical skills get the focus, employers most value the basics of showing up and working well with others.
“The technical skills are about 30% of what the employers want,” says Feinberg, co-founder of WorkTexas. “The other 70% is people who get to work on time and can work on a team.”
This insight has shaped WorkTexas’s approach since its 2020 launch. Unlike traditional vocational schools that tout certification rates, Feinberg’s program measures success by job placement, retention, and career advancement.
“We’re interested in what that looks like in terms of earning power and creating sustainable lives,” Feinberg explains.
The program’s employer-centered design begins by asking businesses about their specific needs. “We start with the employer,” says Yazmin Guerra, workforce development leader for WorkTexas and Harris County Juvenile Probation Department.
This approach has attracted 148 employer partners and yielded impressive results: approximately 70% of graduates secure new jobs or improve existing positions, with average starting wages of $19.10 per hour.
WorkTexas maintains contact with graduates for five years, providing ongoing support and coaching. “We are proactively reaching out every six months,” says Feinberg.
For Houston-area businesses struggling to find reliable workers, WorkTexas’s dual focus on technical and soft skills addresses a critical workforce gap. As labor shortages continue across multiple industries, this model could prove valuable for employers seeking well-rounded candidates.
Feinberg, who previously co-founded the KIPP charter school network, sees WorkTexas as an evolution in educational thinking. “We collectively realized that maybe it was a mistake to stop doing vocational ed in our high schools,” he reflects. “We need to bring it back better.”