Lack of job skills hurting work force in Wisconsin
Press-Gazette
The Green Bay Press-Gazette visits with newsmakers in the business world each week in its Monday Conversation feature. This week, Jim Golembeski of The Bay Area Workforce Development board, talks about the regional employment market.
Q. What is the biggest problem in the economy at present, lack of jobs or lack of qualified workers?
A. In the economy of Northeastern Wisconsin, it's definitely the lack of workers who have the skill sets employers are looking for. For example, I checked the other day and Georgia-Pacific in Green Bay has 21 separate job orders on the state JobNet system; some are for multiple positions. They struggle to find the people they need.
That being said, there are job shortages in many of our rural areas in Northeastern Wisconsin.
The recent paper mill closing in Niagara is a good example of workers living where there are few jobs available. There are jobs in Marinette, Green Bay, the Valley, and along the lakeshore.
Q. What are some examples of the kinds of jobs going unfilled in Northeastern Wisconsin because of the lack of qualified workers? What sectors are most affected?
A. The top of my help-wanted list is in advanced manufacturing and food processing. Engineers, welders, machinists, CNC technicians, maintenance technicians and industrial painters are all in demand.
A year ago we created the Manufacturers Alliance (www.newmfgalliance.org) to address this need.
Besides, truck drivers are needed, as are material handlers. The insurance companies have openings in the customer service area. There continue to be opportunities in the health-care industry as well.
About twice each week I look at the state JobNet listings for our area just to see what employers are looking for. There is a lot of good information there.
Q. Are federal or state programs providing sufficient resources to meet training needs?
A. Yes and no. Yes, in that we have one of the best technical college systems in the country in Wisconsin, especially in Northeastern Wisconsin. The training opportunities are right in front of our faces. Northeast Wisconsin Technical College does effective outreach to our rural areas. Lakeshore Technical College is great as well.
Yes, also in services to traditional populations such as dislocated workers. When there is a business closing, resources are available.
No, in that there is little federal or state policy focused on incumbent worker training. There is more and more urgency to make sure our workers are keeping up with new technology and process change such as lean manufacturing.
Bay Area Workforce Development Board had a federal earmark grant in 2002 that allowed us to fund incumbent worker training and we learned a lot about the positive impact such an investment can have on our regional economy.
No as well for many of our unskilled workers who need some support to get the training they need to succeed in this economy. We have people working low-paying jobs, sometimes several such jobs, who lack the time and space to go back for training to learn higher-level skills. That would require public support for child care, transportation and living expenses to buy them the time they need for long-term gain. Increasingly we need these people to be more educated and productive.
Q. What are businesses doing to meet those needs?
A. Businesses are spending more on training their employees. A good example is the Manitowoc Co. Crane Division. A few years ago we worked with them and Lakeshore Technical College to develop and fund a 10-week welding-training curriculum that we used with dislocated workers. Workers who successfully completed that training then were hired by the Manitowoc Co. and given an additional 10 weeks of welding training at company expense. Now the company is funding all the training from beginning to end.
Last year, area businesses came together to form the Manufacturers Alliance, which now has about 45 members. The businesses pay dues that are used to promote manufacturing careers. The companies work together to attract and train skilled workers.
There are more and more partnerships being created, especially between business and education, to promote a smoother transition from school to work. A great example is the $1.5 million that Ariens is providing for the creation of a state-of-the-art tech education center at Brillion High School.
Q. What are schools high schools and colleges doing to meet those needs?
A. Project Lead the Way, a high school engineering program, has been put in place by several area high schools. Many school districts are making real efforts to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) classes in their curricula. The Tech Prep program develops connections between K-12 schools and the technical colleges.
The Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce has Partners in Education (PIE), one of the most sophisticated school-to-work programs in the country and the envy of many communities.
NWTC and Lakeshore Technical College have invested a lot of resources in the labs and other facilities they need to provide training for the skills that are in demand.
Recently, NWTC and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay created a "General Education Certificate" that allows credits to transfer between the two schools more easily.
NWTC is working on a partnership with UW-Stevens Point to develop an engineering degree program locally.
The Manufacturers Alliance has established closer ties with Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan University.
Unfortunately, our rural schools, especially in the northern counties, are in crisis because of declining enrollment and rising property values, both of which hurt them in the state school aids funding formula. As funding declines, so does academic innovation and opportunities for technical education. We need to address the education needs of rural students more effectively.
Q. Is this going to be a long-term problem?
A. Skill shortages in high-wage jobs are going to be a challenge for a long time. The coming retirement of the baby-boomers is a huge factor, even if some of us stay in the work force a little longer. Boomers are simply a numerically large group of people who have gained a lot of skills over the course of their careers and we are on our way out.
Manufacturing, which provides the largest number of jobs in Northeastern Wisconsin, as well as some of the top wages, has an image problem. Young people, parents and teachers do not seem to realize the quality career opportunities that the manufacturing sector provides.
Many of these careers are not the dirty, physically demanding jobs they were a generation ago. Instead, manufacturing involves cutting-edge technology, creativity, and the kind of professional challenges that young people thrive on. It's worth looking at as a career.
It's also my personal opinion that we seem to have a real inferiority complex in Northeastern Wisconsin about our ability to learn math and science, which are the key skills for the future. That has to change for many of us.
Q. What is your No.1 piece of advice for workers, both those who've not yet entered the job market and those now in it?
A. Take the time to look around you and learn about your community. Find out about the companies, big and small and in-between, that thrive in Northeastern Wisconsin. What do these companies do? What skills do they need? What do jobs pay?
I find a huge disconnect between what people know about the regional job market and what it actually is. Too many career decisions are being made in a vacuum.
I tell people to remember the Golden Rule not the one about "doing unto others," but: "The one who has the gold, makes the rules."
Find out who has jobs available in Northeastern Wisconsin and figure out how to give them the skills they want so they will pay you a good wage.
Compiled by Rich Ryman/Press-Gazette
About Jim Golembeski
Jim Golembeski is executive director of Bay Area Workforce Development Board, which is responsible for administration of federal job training grants in a 10-county area of Northeastern Wisconsin. Golembeski has been working in the employment and training field since 1990, before which he worked as a Roman Catholic priest.
He holds master's degrees in theology (St. Paul Seminary, 1981) and public administration (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 1997). He received the "Wisconsin Cares About Kids Award" in 1998 from the Wisconsin Public Defenders Association and the "Community Quarterback Award" from the Green Bay Packers in 2004 for his work with victims of domestic violence.
Bay Area Workforce Development Board
The Bay Area Workforce Development Board is a private nonprofit organization, led by area business leaders, that brings business, labor, education and economic development representatives together to strategize about how to meet the work force needs of Northeastern Wisconsin. The board works with government programs, such as Job Service and Wisconsin Works (W2), to promote collaboration as a one-stop job center system to better serve businesses and job seekers.
Press-Gazette
About Jim Golembeski
Jim Golembeski is executive director of Bay Area Workforce Development Board, which is responsible for administration of federal job training grants in a 10-county area of Northeastern Wisconsin. Golembeski has been working in the employment and training field since 1990, before which he worked as a Roman Catholic priest.
He holds master's degrees in theology (St. Paul Seminary, 1981) and public administration (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 1997). He received the "Wisconsin Cares About Kids Award" in 1998 from the Wisconsin Public Defenders Association and the "Community Quarterback Award" from the Green Bay Packers in 2004 for his work with victims of domestic violence.
Bay Area Workforce Development Board
The Bay Area Workforce Development Board is a private nonprofit organization, led by area business leaders, that brings business, labor, education and economic development representatives together to strategize about how to meet the work force needs of Northeastern Wisconsin. The board works with government programs, such as Job Service and Wisconsin Works (W2), to promote collaboration as a one-stop job center system to better serve businesses and job seekers.
Press-Gazette