Page 11 - World of Welding Winter 2019

Addressing the Skills Gap

By Emily Fox

Its no secret that U.S. employers are dealing with a huge skills gap. What is the answer to addressing the skills gap? Educational
Many employers simply cannot fnd enough workers that have the institutions need to do a better job interacting with local businesses
necessary skills to fll vacant positions. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and forming lasting and meaningful relationships. Skilled Trade
and Statistics reported there were over 5.8 million job openings programs need to make a comeback into high schools so that
in the country.(1) What does this mean? Employers are getting students are being exposed to these programs at an early age.
creative to attract talent by paying higher wages and also investing I recently visited a high school who has incorporated a
in employees to retain them in an ever changing labor market. manufacturing class back into their curriculum after doing away
A recent report completed by the Labor and Economic Analysis with their industrial arts program years ago. This is all too common
Team for the NC Works Commission identifed some key issues.(2) today in high schools. Most of the skilled trades that once were
39% of employers have had diffculty flling at least one offered at the high school level were done away with. The big
position over the past year, especially in the manufacturing and push for a number of years was that college was the end all for
constructions industries. all students and the skilled trades were looked down upon. This
is a big part of the reason so many employers cannot fnd skilled
A lack of work experience, education, technical skills, and soft skills employees today. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. The
were the top reasons given by employers who were experiencing more schools I visit, I see that the trades are being reintroduced at
hiring diffculties. the high school level and these classes are full of students who love
79 million baby boomers need to be replaced. working with their hands.
Our educational institutions are struggling to keep up with demand
for skilled workers. Resources:
(1)www.bls.gov
These trends are causing employers to settle for less-qualifed (2)https://nccoin.org/our-next-big-challenge-addressing-americas-job-skills-
workers and because of this the employers may have to invest time gap
and resources into providing on the job training.

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www.welding.org - 11 - 2018 WINTER ISSUE