Washington Business Winter 2019 | Washington Business | Page 51
business backgrounder | education & workforce
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with Top Decision
Makers in
Washington State.
“The goal is for them to work with a college and work
with a transition counselor to figure out the best path
forward for them as they transition out of the military
and move into the civilian sector.”
— Cary Ingram, VIE-25 Coordinator
And soldiers are able to go to class during their so-called “duty day,” while
still working active duty in the armed forces.
“This is a huge benefit for those transitioning,” Ingram said. “Ultimately
it just gives them six months more to prepare for that separation date.”
It also helps America’s workforce shortage. There were many headlines in
the second half of 2018 that highlighted the huge number of job openings,
which sometimes exceeded the number of people looking for work. There
were still 7 million open jobs as of September, the federal government
reported.
Overall, the VIE-25 program is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. And
it works. The program is focused on a labor pool that’s already equipped with
many of the soft skills Washington employers need, supporters say: Reliability,
punctuality, problem-solving and teamwork, for example. By helping these
veterans gain new certifications, the state has taken a step in the right direction,
and made Washington’s workforce shortage that much better.
To learn more about workforce challenges and solutions, please contact
AWB’s Amy Anderson at 360.943.1600 or [email protected].
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winter 2019
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