By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A new study finds that the taxpayer-funded system to connect Philadelphia employers with workers seeking jobs has been delivering only mediocre results.

But help may be on the way.

With unemployment perhaps the biggest issue in Philadelphia, underlying many of its other problems, the Philadelphia Research Initiative of the  Pew Charitable Trusts put its focus on the city’s workforce development system.

Project leader Tom Ginsberg says it found that more people than ever are seeking help but, despite nearly half a billion dollars in spending, fewer than 60 percent find jobs.

“We found that their performance in actually placing people in jobs and helping them keep those jobs was mostly average or below average, compared to comparable cities around the country and areas across Pennsylvania,” Ginsberg tells KYW Newsradio.

He says, though, that a recent reorganization should improve the system.  Philadelphia Works Inc. announced last June that it will combine the two agencies currently providing services (Philadelphia Workforce Development Corp. and Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board) by this coming June and, according to Ginsberg, looks to be more efficient and effective.

Read the Pew Study