New Report Highlights Future Labor Pool Concerns

At a regional conference held in Albany on December 8, 2004, the Workforce Investment Board of Columbia & Greene Counties, in conjunction with three additional Workforce Boards, released The Greater Capital Region State of the Workforce Report.

The report points out that the region, like the rest of the country, is on the verge of facing a serious worker shortage. Demographic shifts indicate that there will be a shrinking pool of available workers since the number of young people entering the workforce does not come close to matching the number of baby boomers who are nearing retirement.

" Tech valley " economic development efforts may also result in the creation of thousands of new jobs, which will place major strains on existing employers' ability to maintain their workforce. Mary-Alane Wiltse, Director of the Workforce New York Career Center at Columbia-Greene Community College, pointed out," Approximately 40% of Columbia and Greene county residents already commute out of their county for employment. We can expect this number to grow if a chip fabrication plant employing close to 5,000 people moves to the region. Our local businesses may have an even more difficult time finding qualified workers. "

The four WIBs, as they are known, are responsible for overseeing job-training programs in 11 local counties and collaborated on authoring the report. The intent of the report is to generate discussion and coordinate action items among the region's economic developers, businesses and education leaders.

Another major issue addressed in the report concerns the need to more closely align the skill needs of local business with the education and training opportunities available in the region. There is a concern that there is not enough technology focused training programs available to prepare workers for high-tech jobs. Technology training is becoming necessary for everyone. The speed of change requires life-long learning for every member of the labor force. In addition, the Columbia-Greene WIB issued a separate local report on two recently completed research projects on workforce issues. The projects involved conducting industry focus groups on businesses concerns regarding their workers, and surveying the two counties' 11th and 12th grade high school students on their future educational and career plans.

According to Ms. Wiltse, "Our local results show that our employers have the same concerns as our regional neighbors in terms of hiring issues and employee skills. In addition, over 50% of our local youth plan to move from the area after graduation. Although it is nice to see that over 40% of the students going on to college hope to live here after they complete their education, I am not sure we can afford to lose this many of our youth" . The report shows that the number one reason students plan to leave the area is to obtain better job opportunities. Their desire for different cultural and social activities was the second most popular reason for leaving.

The keynote speaker at the event was former Congressman Steve Gunderson from Wisconsin, who is co-author of the book " The Jobs Revolution " . He noted that even though the Capital Region (Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer) was on par with the state and the nation in terms of working age population, educational attainment level and per capita personal income, the rural counties significantly trail behind in these areas. He also noted that the entire region lacked cultural diversity and pointed out that by 2010 only 31% of the young adults entering the workforce will be white. Without a welcoming atmosphere to people from diverse backgrounds the Greater Capital Region could find itself at a disadvantage in its attempt to attract new workers.

Congressman Gunderson concluded by pointing out that unlike many areas in the country, the Greater Capital Region is committed to attracting high skilled jobs, which is an important step in insuring economic vitality in the future. Success also requires the need to focus on producing high-skilled workers. This effort needs to be undertaken on a regional basis, otherwise we will end up with a two-class region: urban versus rural and skilled versus unskilled.

The two complete reports, which include recommendations on how to respond to these issues, are available by calling the Workforce New York Career Center at 828-4181, ext. 5510

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If you can't find something you are looking for, please contact the Columbia-Greene Career Center for more assistance, (518) 828-4181 ext. 5510,TDD/TTY (518) 828-1399 or e-mail us .