Help Wanted: Smyth County, Virginia (cont.)

Smyth County has undertaken several initiatives to address the workforce skills gap, including a new “Career Pathways” program that will incorporate technical training and workplace readiness skills along with academic preparation in the K-12 curriculum.

Some of the specific hard skills identified were certified CNC (computer numerically controlled) machinists, certified welders, forklift operators and heavy equipment operators. At the time of the interviews, more than two thirds of the employers surveyed were having difficulty in finding qualified workers.

A common problem

Smyth County certainly is not alone in experiencing this workforce skills gap. For many decades, manufacturing has been the backbone of the American economy. However, global pressures from lower labor costs overseas have forced U.S. operations to make major strides in efficiency in order to cut costs. The resulting advances in technology require that employees at all levels have a wide range of skills. A recent study of workforce issues in manufacturing, conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers and entitled “The Skills Gap: Manufacturers Confront Persistent Skills Shortages in an Uncertain Economy,” identifies the sector’s shortfall of qualified employees with specific educational backgrounds.

It has been difficult in Smyth County to document what happened to the workers who lost their jobs when the plants closed. Many retired or simply dropped out of the labor force, while others entered retraining programs or were reemployed in manufacturing or non-manufacturing jobs. Some local industries have reported being pleased with the work ethic and the basic manufacturing skills of former sewing machine operators or furniture production workers, although they may have needed subsequent retraining in newer, more automated manufacturing production systems.

The Smyth County Workforce Profile has led to several initiatives that are complete, ongoing or being designed to address the problems identified. The two community colleges serving Smyth County took the initiative and partnered to provide free employability skills training for Smyth County workers and unemployed individuals. The program’s first run provided 69 workshops over a four-month period that included sessions on leadership skills, communication skills, basic computer skills, business ethics, critical thinking, and job search skills. The program proved much more successful in serving incumbent workers than unemployed individuals, so the colleges are studying innovative ways to attract more displaced workers into the program.

The workforce report also recommended a new partnership between K-12 education and the private sector to prepare a well-trained workforce. The Smyth County School Board soon will be implementing a “Career Pathways” program that will incorporate technical training and workplace readiness skills along with academic preparation in the K-12 curriculum, modeled after the State of Michigan’s Career Preparation System. A key objective of the Career Pathways program is to partner with area employers to make workforce training a vital part of the education experience.

In response to the increasing need for technical skills and knowledge, the Smyth County School System has revamped its career education program and now offers a very popular pre-engineering curriculum at the high school level. This program has attracted some of the best and brightest high school students who in the past would not have considered attending the former vocational school (now the Career and Technology Center), due to a stigma that those programs were for the least able students or those with discipline problems. The school system is making headway in changing that stereotype with the leadership and involvement of administrators and counselors with employers.

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