Eau Claire (WQOW)- The jobs are there but the skilled workers are not. We've heard this concern for months. Last year, WQOW News 18 reported extensively on the skills gap in a series called ‘The Job Search.'
We learned how a Chippewa Falls manufacturer couldn't find skilled workers to fill openings. The situation was so bleak locally, Extrusion Dies Industries went to Detroit to find workers for jobs; jobs that now pay anywhere from $17 to $22 an hour.
There are many reasons why the gap is so wide. For example, because of changing technology, employers need workers with advanced skills, which many job seekers don't have. The question now is how to address it.
The Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corporation is beginning a skills gap study. The
goal is to collaborate between those hiring and those
looking for jobs to figure out what skills are necessary to fill those
positions. The study will include educators, employers, and job applicants. Manufacturing is one sector where many jobs remain unfilled.
"In the last three years, I don't think there's been a time when we have not had positions to fill," says S. Mark Tyler, President of OEM Fabricators.
"There's a ton of demand there, but we aren't necessarily getting people into those pipelines," explains Labor Market Economist Scott Hodek. "So you've got businesses on one hand saying, 'We've got 80 jobs to fill here and we just can't do it' and on the other hand, you've got people saying, 'Well I can't find a job.'"
"The problem with the pipeline is at the front of the pipeline; convincing young students to enter those careers," Tyler says.
"You've got basically a one-two punch," says Hodek. "You've got not enough applicants with the skills needed and you've got people retiring at the same time."
OEM Fabricators in Woodville is taking part in the study. The company has hired 300 people over the past three years.
"It costs us about $7,000 to recruit and do the initial training for each person we hire," Tyler reveals. "That's a huge investment when you look at our situation over the last three years."
At the moment, OEM has 11 openings, and expects to add 10 more welding positions to the list by the end of the month. The manufacturer says those positions take weeks, if not months to fill, because the average applicant doesn't have the necessary skills it is looking for.
"If you are looking at technical college graduates, they have a very good shot. They are almost automatically considered. If they are unemployed and they didn't finish high school or they finished high school and have had no training, they probably don't have a chance," explains Tyler. "Truthfully, if we don't have an opening and somebody good walks through the door, we don't let them out."
The Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corporation hopes to release results from the study in December. The results will be shared with schools. The hope there is to encourage them to add practical job skills into curriculum at the high school and college levels.
More local businesses are needed for the study. If you would like to participate, you can contact the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corporation at (715) 834-0070.
