Jobless Rate Masks Challenges In State’s Workforce
July 27, 2017 at 5:55 p.m.
By Dan [email protected]
In fact, Indiana’s jobless rate is the sixth best in the nation and Kosciusko’s is second lowest in the region to Elkhart’s 2.3 percent.
And state officials proudly says the numbers highlight the state's ongoing strong economy.
But the figures still belie serious concerns with the lack of job skills and pressing demands from the private sector.
Those concerns were outlined by Steve Braun, commissioner of Indiana Workforce Development, who met earlier this week with some of Kosciusko County’s biggest employers, including Zimmer Biomet and DePuy-Synthes in a meeting with OrthoWorx, an organization focused on improving, among other things, workforce development that benefits the orthopedic industry.
The state projects about 35 percent of the jobs available in the future will require a college degree while another 30 percent will need a high school degree.
But there is another segment – about 35 percent – that will require a high school degree with a high-valued credential or certificate. Many of those are for advanced manufacturing, IT and health care jobs.
Currently, only about 8,000 to 10,000 people are obtaining the needed training each year.
But to satisfy the job market, that number needs to be tripled, Braun said.
“This is the big gap. This is what’s not being filled out there. That’s the structural gap,” Braun said during a visit to Warsaw earlier this week.
“A lot of the jobs and pain that you’re having is related to that structural issue,” Braun told the group.
He also heard localized concerns.
George Robertson, president of Kosciusko Economic Development Corp., said there are about 100 openings for CNC machinists in the county and about 400 openings across northeast Indiana. Complicating that is the forecast for future openings.
“What scares us is that when I talk to our companies, they expect 100 machinists a year to retire over the next 10 years,” Robertson said.
Braun also noted the more simplistic problem employers are facing. He echoed the concerns of many, saying he continues to hear employers say they’re just looking for workers who have the basic skills to communicate, embrace teamwork skills, can pass a drug test and will show up for work.
“Their standards are pretty low right now,” Braun said.
Braun became commissioner about two years ago and appears to have brought with him a business perspective. He said he believes the department’s true customers are employers and not necessarily the job seekers.
“Our customers are our employers. We really wanted to do a mentality shift there,” Braun said.
And he looks at the both the supply and demand sides of the workforce development equation.
On the supply side, of the 80,000 freshmen who enter high school every year, as many as 10,000 will eventually drop out of school.
One of the programs aimed at helping turn that around is the JAG (Jobs for America’s graduates) program. The program is used by more than 100 school districts, including Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, in which at-risk students are identified and provided with additional assistance.
So far, the program is seeing graduation rates that are above the state average.
On the demand side, Braun said the state is working to better understand the needs of the workforce and get the word out.
The state is now tracking the top 800 job occupations across all industries in the state and using labor market information verifying trends by surveying about 10,000 employers.
“We can literally tell you very accurately what jobs are open out there today. And for each of the next 10 years, we are about 90 percent accurate.”
He said there is a lack of awareness about good jobs that are in demand.
To that end, the state has established a website, Indianacareerexplorer.com, and a program that allows students to learn more about jobs that are in demand.
The website then shows “every education track that’s out there … to get you to that outcome,” Braun said.
The program is still in the pilot stages in schools.
If it’s embraced by the General Assembly and expanded statewide, every eighth-grader would be required to take the course, Braun said.
The program also includes an informational component intended to keep students abreast of job opportunities.
The state is also boosting efforts with other segments of the workforce.
More assistance is being provided for prison inmates preparing to move from incarceration and into the workforce. About 15,000 people exist in the prison system every year, Braun said.
The program was established several years ago. The state has seen the number of people finding jobs after their release increase from 200 or 300 when the program first started to 2,500 last year, he said.
In fact, Indiana’s jobless rate is the sixth best in the nation and Kosciusko’s is second lowest in the region to Elkhart’s 2.3 percent.
And state officials proudly says the numbers highlight the state's ongoing strong economy.
But the figures still belie serious concerns with the lack of job skills and pressing demands from the private sector.
Those concerns were outlined by Steve Braun, commissioner of Indiana Workforce Development, who met earlier this week with some of Kosciusko County’s biggest employers, including Zimmer Biomet and DePuy-Synthes in a meeting with OrthoWorx, an organization focused on improving, among other things, workforce development that benefits the orthopedic industry.
The state projects about 35 percent of the jobs available in the future will require a college degree while another 30 percent will need a high school degree.
But there is another segment – about 35 percent – that will require a high school degree with a high-valued credential or certificate. Many of those are for advanced manufacturing, IT and health care jobs.
Currently, only about 8,000 to 10,000 people are obtaining the needed training each year.
But to satisfy the job market, that number needs to be tripled, Braun said.
“This is the big gap. This is what’s not being filled out there. That’s the structural gap,” Braun said during a visit to Warsaw earlier this week.
“A lot of the jobs and pain that you’re having is related to that structural issue,” Braun told the group.
He also heard localized concerns.
George Robertson, president of Kosciusko Economic Development Corp., said there are about 100 openings for CNC machinists in the county and about 400 openings across northeast Indiana. Complicating that is the forecast for future openings.
“What scares us is that when I talk to our companies, they expect 100 machinists a year to retire over the next 10 years,” Robertson said.
Braun also noted the more simplistic problem employers are facing. He echoed the concerns of many, saying he continues to hear employers say they’re just looking for workers who have the basic skills to communicate, embrace teamwork skills, can pass a drug test and will show up for work.
“Their standards are pretty low right now,” Braun said.
Braun became commissioner about two years ago and appears to have brought with him a business perspective. He said he believes the department’s true customers are employers and not necessarily the job seekers.
“Our customers are our employers. We really wanted to do a mentality shift there,” Braun said.
And he looks at the both the supply and demand sides of the workforce development equation.
On the supply side, of the 80,000 freshmen who enter high school every year, as many as 10,000 will eventually drop out of school.
One of the programs aimed at helping turn that around is the JAG (Jobs for America’s graduates) program. The program is used by more than 100 school districts, including Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, in which at-risk students are identified and provided with additional assistance.
So far, the program is seeing graduation rates that are above the state average.
On the demand side, Braun said the state is working to better understand the needs of the workforce and get the word out.
The state is now tracking the top 800 job occupations across all industries in the state and using labor market information verifying trends by surveying about 10,000 employers.
“We can literally tell you very accurately what jobs are open out there today. And for each of the next 10 years, we are about 90 percent accurate.”
He said there is a lack of awareness about good jobs that are in demand.
To that end, the state has established a website, Indianacareerexplorer.com, and a program that allows students to learn more about jobs that are in demand.
The website then shows “every education track that’s out there … to get you to that outcome,” Braun said.
The program is still in the pilot stages in schools.
If it’s embraced by the General Assembly and expanded statewide, every eighth-grader would be required to take the course, Braun said.
The program also includes an informational component intended to keep students abreast of job opportunities.
The state is also boosting efforts with other segments of the workforce.
More assistance is being provided for prison inmates preparing to move from incarceration and into the workforce. About 15,000 people exist in the prison system every year, Braun said.
The program was established several years ago. The state has seen the number of people finding jobs after their release increase from 200 or 300 when the program first started to 2,500 last year, he said.
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