![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ReadyToWork_AlamoCollegesDistrict_AdultEducation_CollegeStudentStudying_EnrollmentExpo_01_02.05.2026.jpeg\")
Enrollment team lead Laurie Rios helps with walk-in intake during a Ready To Work enrollment expo. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\nSan Antonio\u2019s taxpayer-funded workforce development program, Ready to Work, is planning to reach the \u201cpinnacle for service levels\u201d this year before it starts winding things down, program officials said in their annual update to the City Council.<\/p>\n
Ready to Work Executive Director Mike Ramsey shared projections and a budget for July 2026 through June 2027.<\/p>\n
The program has made enormous strides in its job placement and training completions, Ramsey emphasized, but it will need to pick up its pace to meet its goals before it wraps up in 2030.<\/p>\n
Budget breakdown<\/p>\n
Ramsey presented a $42.8 million budget, lower than its 2025 and 2026 budgets, which were set at $49.5 million and $44.8 million.<\/p>\n
One major cut from the program budget was on-the-job training programs. In 2024, Ready to Work had pushed that program, which gave employers funding to train Ready to Work participants in their workplace, but Ramsey said it had been underutilized by employers.<\/p>\n
Ramsey said $6 million had been set aside for that program last year, but employers didn\u2019t meet hiring commitments and only utilized around $1 million. The rest of that funding is being put back into the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey entered into an agreement with the city saying that they wanted to hire a certain review. Their hiring needs shifted,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have any anticipated vacancies they thought they were going to have. It wasn\u2019t primarily that they just didn\u2019t want to hire a work participants.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the 2027 fiscal year, which runs from July 2026 to June 2027, $4.9 million of the Ready to Work budget is spent on administration, outreach and support programs.<\/p>\n
Half of that budget is going to tuition for program participants. Ready to Work funds tuition and training support for participants through contracts with its partner organizations. Those contracts also include case management, wraparound services, child care and intake assessments.<\/p>\n
The costs of those contracts have increased, Ramsey said, due to rising labor costs. That has negated higher-than-expected revenues from the one-eighth-cent sales tax, which generated $86 million more than expected.<\/p>\n
Ramsey said program partners \u2014 Workforce Solutions Alamo, Alamo Colleges, Project Quest, Restore Education, Goodwill Industries and Hallmark University \u2014 have also gotten better at working as a team in the last year.<\/p>\n
Enrollment team lead Laurie Rios helps with walk-in intake during a Ready To Work enrollment expo. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a systematic change that\u2019s occurring through Ready to Work. They\u2019re all working better together, they all have better relationships with the local employers, there\u2019s more alignment there,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cBut that\u2019s not something that happens overnight. It just takes time.\u201d<\/p>\n
More job placements?<\/p>\n
A long-running critique of the program<\/a>, which kicked off in 2022 and was funded with $236 million from a one-eighth-cent sales tax<\/a>, has been its struggle to quickly place program participants in new jobs.<\/p>\n Ready to Work\u2019s earliest goals were to get 28,000 workers in new jobs. That goal has been reduced to 15,600.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, though, job placement and training completion numbers are climbing fast, Ramsey said.<\/p>\n On April 28, Ready to Work had placed more than 4,700 workers in new jobs. Over the last 12 months it\u2019s done so at a nearly 200 worker-per-month rate, up from around 50 during the first three years of the program. That has more than doubled its job placements from its first three years.<\/p>\n To meet future goals, though, Ready to Work will have to hit an even higher gear. By the end of the program in 2030, Ready to Work is on track to place just over 14,700 workers, shy of its revised 15,600-job placement goal. The program has placed 406 workers in new jobs this month and Ramsey was confident that trend would continue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe program has gained significant momentum over the last year, and we hope that momentum continues into the finality of the program in 2030,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ready to Work is also trying to get its participants in jobs more quickly; 62% of participants land an approved job after six months. The program\u2019s target was 80%.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still the target we\u2019re going to keep striving for. Will we ever hit it? Probably not. We got to keep doing our best,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cAt 80%, it\u2019s not what you typically see serving the population that we\u2019re serving. The barriers that they\u2019re facing are extremely high.\u201d<\/p>\n Council response<\/p>\n Though city council members have scrutinized the program<\/a> in the past, <\/strong>at an April 15 meeting, there was plenty of praise.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very proud of what we\u2019ve done so far,\u201d said Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BB_01267.jpg\")
Ready to Work Executive Director Mike Ramsey attends a board meeting in 2023. Credit: Brenda Baz\u00e1n \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MethodistHospitalHealthcare_SouthTexasMedicalCenter_03_03.04.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Methodist Healthcare\u2019s South Texas Medical Center hospital facility on March 4, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n