Closing the job skills
Education ties directly to employment, and better focus will
By Steve Bibler for Leading Business
An estimated 2,000 jobs in Elkhart County are going unfilled because
many of today’s jobseekers lack the job skills to do the work.
day’ concept,” he added.
The dilemma of a growing workforce unqualified to perform today’s jobs
is felt statewide, but is especially troublesome in Elkhart County, where the
jobless rate still hovers around 8 percent. It’s a paradox because businesses,
including manufacturers – who provide 44 percent of all jobs in the
county – are still having a hard time finding qualified employees to fill
open positions.
Gregg Fore, president of RV supplier Dicor Corp. and immediate past
chairman of the national Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, sees the
dilemma at his factories, too. He has been an outspoken voice on the need
for preparing tomorrow’s workers for the emerging job market. He calls
the present situation “awful” and has challenged Ivy Tech to take the lead
in helping to solve the problem.
Ivy Tech’s Role Enhanced
It’s a two-tiered problem.
The shortage of job-ready workers vexes
business officials in Elkhart, which has
traditionally boasted of the good work
ethic of the resident labor force. In
contrast, many of the skillsets today’s
young workers lack are the so-called “soft
skills.”
Indiana Chamber action plan
The state chamber suggests a three-prong attack:
• Businesses working with educators to identify industry
trends and invite workplace tours.
• Parents stressing to children the importance of pursuing
education beyond high school.
• Workers getting technical certifications and other advanced
training for jobs in demand.
“The skills gap we’re seeing is people not
coming to work every day. They don’t
want to work every day. We’re losing a lot
of them after a few days; few make it past
90 days,” says Tim Stephens, president of
Atwood Mobile Products, an RV supplier
employing about 300 workers at two assembly plants in Elkhart. “It’s hard
to run an effective production line if 15 percent of your workforce is absent
every day.”
The skills gap is most apparent in jobseekers under the age of 30, says
Stephens. “The new workforce is really struggling with the ‘all day, every
a shock to your nature.”
In fact, thanks to input from Fore
and others, Ivy Tech is redesigning its
curriculum in response to industry’s
demands. A new eight-week module
system is in the works whereby a st ????)???????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????)????????????????????=?????????????)?????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????)????????e???????)%?????????????????e?????????????????)???????????????????q????????????)?????????????e?????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????() ???????????????qQ??????????????????????????????????????)???????????????e???????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????Q???????????????????????????????????((