According to Monster’s “The Future of Work 2021: Global Hiring Outlook” report, the skills gap is widening. The top hurdle that hiring managers expect to face in 2021 remains the skills gap and its impact on finding qualified candidates. A third of U.S. employers say the skills gap has increased, compared to last year. And 80% of employers say they have difficulty filling openings due to skills gaps, as opposed to a year ago. (See learnmore.monster.com/future-of-work)
The good news, to my way of thinking, is this: we have solutions. And we can seem them them working.
CONSIDER SOUTH CAROLINA’S APPROACH
South Carolina has taken enormous strides to address the growing skills gaps through its apprenticeship programs. The state lists nearly 1,200 registered programs in participating companies, and a total of more than 36,000 apprentices statewide. In addition, the state also boasts 274 youth-apprenticeship programs and 20 pre-apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeship Carolina, a division of the South Carolina (SC) Technical College System (sctechsystem.edu) facilitates the programs across the state in 16 technical colleges. (See apprenticeshipcarolina.com)
The investment in apprenticeships pay off. Quite nicely. A recent study conducted by the University of South Carolina as part of the South Carolina Apprenticeship Initiative (SCAI) grant concluded that there is a $1.26 return on investment for every dollar spent in five years, for all industries.
Pre-apprenticeship programs are custom designed to prepare individuals to enter and succeed in apprenticeship programs. The pre-apprenticeship approach benefits both the participating students and their employers. Participants acquire the knowledge and skills training needed for specific jobs and. Employers benefit by getting screened, trained employees who are ready to work, saving them recruiting time and resources, and reducing turnover rates.
Youth apprenticeship programs take the next step toward job-skills proficiency. These programs combine the student’s current high school curriculum with critical on-the-job training from a local employer. The youth apprentices also benefit by earning a paycheck while they receive their education. Businesses rely on the program to create their next-generation workforce. Moreover, participating businesses are eligible to receive a South Carolina state income tax credit of $1,000 per apprentice.
South Carolina’s programs are recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) as a national model for apprenticeship expansion and for collaboration among state agencies engaged in workforce development. The Community College Futures Assembly has also recognized these programs as one of ten workforce development innovative best practices for technical and community colleges across the country.
The state’s youth-apprenticeship programs augment “ReadySC” services (a division of the SC Technical College System). ReadySC was established in 1961, to provide the initial workforce for new businesses offering permanent jobs with competitive wages in the state. Its services include recruiting, locating instructors, pre-employment, and employment training, as well as furnishing a training site if needed. Among other things, ReadySC trained 2,000 new employees for 97 companies in FY 2019-2020. (See readysc.org/our-services.html)
The SC Technical College System and its employment training programs have been an enormous benefit to the state, its residents, and businesses. In fact, South Carolina ranks first in attracting jobs through foreign investment, according to an analysis by IBM-Plant Location International.
SUGGESTIONS FOR RAM PROS EVERYWHERE
Check out the links shown in the above text (and also copied below). We could learn from the success of South Carolina’s statewide model. It’s all about business and industry collaborating with the state’s technical-education providers to align employee training with the needed skills and skills gaps. As RAM professionals, we should reach out to our local technical colleges and high schools to learn how they could help our organizations, and how we could help them.TRR
HANDY LINKS
learnmore.monster.com/future-of-work
