Northeastern Pennsylvania -
Northeast Pennsylvania’s economic development agencies, with the help of businesses and universities, are active, engaged and connected in growing and nurturing the region’s workforce with special programs and skills training.
“We are facing more jobs than people,” said Teri Ooms, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development at Wilkes University (The Institute). But, we’re on par with the rest of the country. Right now, the latest data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce shows that we have 9.5 million job openings in the country, but only 6.5 million unemployed workers.
The conundrum is that there are jobs out there for anyone who wants one, but businesses are reporting a lack of qualified, skilled people for open positions. “We need to build a pipeline,” Ooms said.
Problems with staffing include competition among employers, historically low rates of unemployment, matching the right person to the right job and language barriers, said John L. Augustine III, president and chief executive officer of Penn’s Northeast. Topping those, said Ooms, are a lack of transportation and child care, which impedes potential employees from sustainable employment.
So, short of highly technical skills, how can job seekers sell themselves to a business they are interested in? “Believe it or not, soft skills are the most important,” said Augustine. “Especially the four Cs — Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity. So many jobs are changing rapidly that successful employees need to be able to adapt and constantly learn.”
Early learning with an aim to ultimately fill a veritable pipeline (a pool of candidates who are ready to fill a position) is happening at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce through its Skills in Scranton, a workforce development affiliate.
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