S.F. disbursing $42 million to train workers over two years

San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development is allocating a record $42 million in workforce training programs over the next two fiscal years to help more than 10,000 residents recover from the pandemic.

The funding is going to 67 service providers and community groups including $8.2 million to adult job programs that will create three job training centers in the Excelsior, Richmond and Sunset districts.

Young adult programs for people between ages 16 and 24 will receive $3.6 million, including new job centers in the Fillmore, Bayview and Richmond. Another $10.9 million is going to training programs to give residents new skills in industries including health care, tech and construction.

The money is coming from federal, state and local funding and grants.

The investment is the latest in a series of city programs that helped workers, residents and businesses during the pandemic. The city’s recovery remains uneven, with less than 20% of office workers back, tourism activity lagging the rest of

the Western U.S., and transit ridership still far

below normal, according to an August city report.

Three neighborhoods hard-hit by the pandemic — the Mission, Bayview and Excelsior — will receive a total of $6.4 million at community resource hubs.

“The neighborhoods that were most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic are the same neighborhoods that have experienced employment disparities for years, and that is where we are directing efforts with these resources,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “If our city’s economic recovery is going to be successful and sustainable far into the future, and if we are going to truly make a difference in this City, we have to get our most vulnerable San Franciscans back to work.”

“San Francisco’s equitable economic recovery relies on our investments in communities that need our support the most,” Kate Sofis, director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, said in a statement.

Another $6.8 million will target workforce support for Black residents, part of the $120 million Dream Keeper effort, which aims to shift $120 million over two years from law enforcement funding into Black neighborhoods.

The funding comes after a two-year process that included public meetings and feedback from businesses, schools and labor groups on what programs were most needed. The city’s Human Rights Commission helped direct programs to address longtime disparities.

“This funding centers the ideas, voices, culture and experiences of San Francisco’s diverse communities. Listening to community increases the ability to build successful pipelines and has the potential to improve income and economic mobility through employment and workforce programs,” Sheryl Davis, executive director of the commission, said in a statement.