Job Seekers Lack Skills for Work They Want
Most job seekers believe they lack the needed skills for the positions they want, according to a new poll from Goodwill Industries International Inc.
- The findings are evidence that greater awareness of high-quality jobs training programs could help fill the workforce shortage.
What’s going on: “Among those who are employed and not in an ideal job, 68% say they need more training or skills to have such a position,” according to Goodwill.
- “Additionally, nearly half (47%) of unemployed adults looking for work say a lack of skills or education make it hard for them to maintain work or get better jobs.”
Why it matters: With more than 11.5 million open jobs, the U.S. economy is sorely in need of skilled workers. And while there are high-quality programs in place to reskill and upskill those individuals, too few people may be aware of them, according to Manufacturing Institute President Carolyn Lee.
- Lee cited two of The Manufacturing Institute’s workforce initiatives, its partnership with Stand Together Trust to promote “second chance” hiring—the employment of individuals with criminal records—and the NAM and MI’s Creators Wanted workforce education initiative.
What she says: “These programs are a way to bring people off the sidelines, get the skills they need and be eligible for well-paying, rewarding careers,” Lee said. “But first they need to be aware of them.”