With graduation season behind us, employers across America are preparing for a new crop of employees entering the workforce. Over the last several decades, the popular belief has been that the “cream of the crop,” as far as employees go, has come from four-year universities and colleges.
Although a college degree remains a primary qualifier for many industries and employers, technological advances and innovations have shifted the workforce demand and many of the skills needed today are not exclusively acquired in higher education.
Additionally, whether the new wave of employees arrives with a four-year degree or vocational training, one thing is certain: they will constantly need to be able to adapt, reskill, and upskill throughout their lifetime.
Many high school seniors graduating this month face a new, important question that is unique to this generation of graduates: college, vocational school, or straight to work?
As many as 16 million high school graduates enrolled in trade schools in 2014, and that number has risen significantly since. Now, 1 in 3 high school graduates go straight to work instead of college, and not all cases are due to financial limitations.
These decisions are being made by graduates due in part to increased awareness of the reality that now, more than ever, employers are looking for candidate’s ability to learn, adapt, and apply to the evolving needs and culture, internally and externally. Some of America’s fastest-growing companies are looking for some mixture of essential skills like communication, teamwork, initiative to take-on and create new tasks, and the capacity for lifelong learning. In fact, from there, these employers increasingly show the willingness to provide employees with on-the-job training for more specific technical skills.
America needs its local superintendents, school boards, and communities to better embrace and proudly announce the high school graduates headed to technical school and apprenticeships. The dignity of work should be more than a throw-away phrase — it should be celebrated. Our economy depends on it, as there are severe shortages in the labor market. Not only should we celebrate those who choose the path of technical and vocation training, but we must make workforce development a priority in this country.
Local business-led workforce development boards, which connect employer needs with a supply of skilled employees, are more important to America’s future than ever before.
Workforce boards are in communities across the country. They work with local employers to understand the current skill-demand that is unique to their respective companies and then develop training programs for the job seekers in that community. Workforce development boards can assess potential employees for competencies evidenced through credentials and integrate more work-based learning into their skill development efforts. This system is already in place and ready to support people in all stages of life to attain the skills needed in the evolving workforce.
According to the Associated Builders and Contractors, the construction industry has a critical shortage of skilled workers. In fact, Associated Builders and Contractors estimates there are currently over 500,000 unfilled construction jobs. While the number of job openings nationwide is at a record level, many employers say they struggle to find the employees they need. The National Federation of Independent Businesses found that 42% of small business owners reported few or no qualified applicants for positions they needed to fill. These shortages have very real consequences, not only for contractors and small business owners but for everyday people and the economy as a whole.
Over the next decade, nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled and the current skills gap is expected to result in two million of those jobs going unfilled.
Technological skills, both basic and advanced, will see substantial growth in demand, and many of these skills can be gained through career pathways and training programs developed in collaboration with local workforce development boards.
While graduating seniors may feel some anxiety over making the “right” choice for their future, they should know that from the perspective of an employer, there is no “perfect” choice. The ability to adapt to lifelong learning is what will count in the future of work.
Ron Painter is president and CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards.
