Workforce development is top of mind for most Connecticut employers. And rightfully so.The state’s aging and shrinking population, slow-growing economy and tight labor market have intensified competition for talent, leaving several industries — manufacturing, construction and health care — with worker shortages.It’s an issue Hartford Business Journal thought was significant enough to spotlight in a […]
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Hartford Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Hartford and Connecticut business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the Hartford Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
Workforce development is top of mind for most Connecticut employers. And rightfully so.
The state's aging and shrinking population, slow-growing economy and tight labor market have intensified competition for talent, leaving several industries — manufacturing, construction and health care — with worker shortages.
It's an issue Hartford Business Journal thought was significant enough to spotlight in a five-week series, which ended Sept. 24.
We published nearly a dozen stories highlighting the depths of Connecticut's labor challenges (employers will need to fill an estimated 56,000 jobs annually through 2024), how state government is responding and innovative private- and public-sector programs to train new workers.
What did we learn? There's one key theme that sticks out in my mind: While the state and federal governments have important roles to play in workforce development, it's the private sector, in close coordination with local colleges and high schools, that must lead the way in recruiting and grooming Connecticut's next-generation workforce.
And it's not as easy as simply having a HR director who posts job openings online and screens candidates.
Companies, particularly those in industries ramping up employment, must have comprehensive strategies to woo new workers and treat human capital development as important strategically as new customer development, because you can't have one without the other.
It's hard work. It can mean visiting local colleges and high schools to see what internship or training programs are availabe that might match the skill sets your company is recruiting.
And if those programs don't exist you might need to take the extra initiative to create them. Partnerships have become the norm between Connecticut colleges and industries in severe need of labor and it's one of the best ways to ease the skills gap.
The state's manufacturing sector has taken a lead role in this respect and offers a blueprint for other industries. HBJ highlighted various programs in which employers of all sizes — ranging from Pratt & Whitney and Electric Boat to EDAC Technologies in Cheshire — proactively formed partnerships with local colleges and high schools on curriculum and skills training that have led to direct employment for students immediately upon graduation.
Even with those efforts, manufacturers are still reporting thousands of unfilled jobs, which shows there's more work to be done.
We also heard from state officials who said more funding is needed for workforce development. That may be so, but funding has been declining both at the state and federal levels over the years, and Connecticut's fiscal crisis means future workforce-development dollars will be limited.
So we must ask ourselves, what is the best role for state government in workforce development? The simple answer is that government must primarily be a convener, bringing together employers, colleges, nonprofits and other stakeholders, to help identify weaknesses and develop strategies and programs — largely underwritten by the private sector — that help fill the skills gap. Giving public money to companies to train and hire workers isn't a long-term solution.
We've seen an increasing number of public-private partnerships in recent years that have been effective in training new workers. They must be expanded to more employers and industries. More importantly, state lawmakers must solve our budget crisis and make the state more economically competitive.
Connecticut's workforce issues have as much to do about demographics as anything else. Connecticut's population is getting older and declining at the same time, which means the pool of able-bodied workers is shrinking. Meanwhile, 38 percent of Connecticut residents 25 years and older have a bachelor's degree or higher, but by 2020 over 70 percent of jobs will require postsecondary degrees, according to federal data.
Hitting the 70-percent target will require 300,000 more grads than current rates of production will supply and if Connecticut is going to hit that target it will have to lure more college-educated individuals from out of state.
The only way we'll do that is if we have a growing private sector and vibrant cities that attract a younger workforce. We've got a long way to go on both fronts.
