I virtually attended the annual Legislative Academy early in this Session. The Idaho Business for Education group invites an informed voice on education or related topics to present to the Legislators. When the “scourge” was not a daily part of life our IBE members and Leadership team hosted a breakfast on the fourth floor of the Capitol. Our goal is to have the one on one opportunity to discuss the stated goals of IBE, respond to questions, and discuss the presentation. As we are not meeting in person the IBE volunteer ambassadors make calls to each Legislator encouraging their support for all levels of education in Idaho. You can see how your representative voted on the key education bills on the IBE scorecard.
This year our speaker was Ron Hedrick, the author of Demographic Drought and a Principal at EMSI Burning Glass, a company headquartered in Moscow and Boston. Statistics cited were presented from his company research. Wonder why there are more jobs than people? It’s the “sansdemic”-“too much work, too little people”. The phenomenon was predictable. Baby Boomers are leaving the workforce at numbers well beyond expectation. The Boomers are well educated and financially successful enough to retire even before 65. Boomers went to school and encouraged their children to do the same. While the over 65 population in the workforce has decreased by 16.1 million in the last 10 years the under 25 population is 2 million less. There are roughly 11 million jobs open in our country today and 4.4 million of them require a college degree – there are only 2.6 million people unemployed with a college education and 2.1 million unemployed with no college education. The gaps are large and will continue.
The population could grow, although the US national rate of births has not replaced the natural reductions dating back to 1971. Declining population is also the case in China, Japan, Italy, Sweden and Korea. Immigration used to be a reliable source of new workers and diversity – the US is at a recent historic low immigration level and soon the entire world will be looking for productive immigrants to bolster their work force. With more jobs available than qualified workers to fill them you can expect increased pressure on wages. Wages are not the only way to attract and retain workers.
A forward looking company will have already begun to build a pipeline and resources for new and replacement employees. Women who have left the workforce because of child care cost or availability could well be attracted to a company who provided dependable and affordable child care. IBE manages an apprentice program, which provides a way to connect classrooms to careers. The Youth Apprentice program connects people 16-24 with companies that hire and train while the student completes the school work for certification or a degree. This effort is a collaboration with the government, business and education. There is likely great loyalty built with an in house trained work force. There are many other strategies that should be a part of your planning – simply hoping the labor pool you need to grow and prosper will be available will not work in the future.
I am still involved on several Boards as a Director. Each for profit or not for profit is struggling to retain and hire employees today. The data makes it clear that when it comes to Human Resources, new approaches must be considered and quickly adopted. A great work environment and culture will always be foundational but more is now required.
Idaho does not adequately invest in K-12 and Higher Education. I encourage you to review how your Legislators vote on the key issues to support and transform our system.
Have a good week end. Mike