February 24th, 2009
TRWIB continuously evaluates available workforce indicators to better understand the demands of the regional labor market information and the gaps in available regional talent. Future discussion points and research opportunities to focus on include:
· What (besides location) are the reasons for work and employee mismatch? How high is the regional underemployment rate? Which are industries, experiencing the most shortages of skilled workforce?
· What is the cycle of skills vs. business development? How do we know when we have trained enough individuals for the jobs available? How transferable are the skills taught?
· What type of jobs will people travel to the region for?
· What role does entrepreneurship training play in the development of regional small businesses? (TRWIB’s research for the AW Beattie Career and Technical Center yielded insight into the importance of entrepreneurship across industries and occupations. This concept of entrepreneurship is meant to be broadly understood – beyond not only starting a new company, but including the understanding of taking initiative and assessing risks in one’s own career. This understanding is reflected in the PA Department of Education Career Education and Work Standards with the fourth standard being Entrepreneurship. As SWPA looks to address its workforce needs, entrepreneurship is an important component of the strategy to build on the existing majority of small businesses that have proven to be successful in the past.
· How do high-profile, publicly-funded issues (e.g. green jobs; energy; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), etc.) impact the demands of our labor market?
· What are the reasons that professionals leave our region? Low wages (particularly of “fresh out” college graduates), lack of opportunity for advancement, mismatch between degrees and industries, lack of diversity (culture, innovation and ideas)?
· How dense is our labor market in terms of skills and opportunity? How do we compare to other regions?
· What kind of jobs would have to be available in the region to encourage people to move to SWPA?
· How can the region develop a more coordinated plan so that opportunities generated by our investments in economic development truly benefit the region as a whole and also maximize our ability to utilize the region’s current workforces’ talents, and yet attract new talent?
Posted in 50/50 Challenge, Density, Diversity, Dynamics, Geography, Make or Buy |
February 20th, 2009
TRWIB works to ensure that policymakers, educators, and jobseekers are aware of educational requirements and educational offerings to prepare/educate/and train our workforce as effectively and as efficiently as possible. To do this, we will need a regional strategic workforce plan that addresses these future discussion points:
Does our region produce enough people with the skills necessary for the jobs available?
Are we producing jobs for the workforce that is available in the region?
How do we develop a regional framework for defining “work ready”?
How do we bring the necessary resources, curriculum, technology and professional development to insuring our workforce is “work ready”?
How can we measure the outcome of such an initiative in ways that demonstrate our strengths and not just our shortcomings in the quality of our workforce?
We welcome and encourage your comments around these discussion points.
Tags: Density, Diversity, Dynamics
Posted in Uncategorized |
February 11th, 2009
Welcome to the blog for the Seeing in 3D: The Dynamics, Diversity and Density of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Labor Market report. The report is the first comprehensive effort by the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board (TRWIB) to document the region’s labor force.
Seeing in 3D is the culmination of months of hard work, tedious research and analysis, stakeholder engagement, writing, editing and design.
The report contains discussion points that are meant to encourage readers to think about the information offered before them, including the 50/50 challenge related to the aging workforce and the national drop out crisis, and take the extra step of devising action plans to address the region’s opportunities and challenges.
We hope that Seeing in 3D: The Dynamics, Diversity and Density of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Labor Market generates conversations about the needs and potentials of the labor market and how well prepared our region is for the changing landscape. We hope that this blog will be one tool that is used to spark discussions around workforce, education and economic development issues related to our region.
We invite you to view the Southwestern PA labor market in 3D as we attempt to explore the challenges and opportunities that make our region unique.
Thank you.
Posted in 50/50 Challenge, Aging, Construction, Density, Diversity, Dynamics, Finance and insurance, Geography, Health care and social assistance, Make or Buy, Manufacturing, Professional and technical services |
