Members of the House Committee on Small Business met with small business leaders in Newportville, Pennsylvania, this week to learn how federal programs help or hinder workforce development initiatives.
“Even in this time of economic growth, many small businesses across numerous industries are struggling to find qualified workers. If left unaddressed, this ‘skills gap’ will not only impact businesses and workers but lead to significant economic spillovers throughout the nation,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said “We’re all called to address this issue: elected officials and educators, local businesses and labor organizations. Today’s hearing is the first step in understanding the causes of the ‘skills gap’ and finding areas for potential improvement within our existing workforce development programs in all sectors.”
One of the issues that emerged is that certain industries like manufacturing find it difficult, particularly in a strong economy, to close the skills gap and find a labor force of qualified applicants.
“This is the message the PA Chamber has attempted to deliver to our members and spread to employers throughout the Commonwealth: the business community must take the lead in workforce development and addressing the skills gap,” Alex Halper, director of government affairs with the PA Chamber in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, said. “We can support smart public policy and encourage educational institutions and members of the public to be close, constructive partners – but ultimately it is incumbent on Pennsylvania employers to make the commitment and do the work necessary to ensure they have a qualified workforce today and in the future.”
Patrick Eiding, president of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, said a big concern is the level of proficiency in math and readings students are graduating with.
“In some cases, even graduates of career and technical education (CTE) schools are at a sixth or seventh grade level for both reading and math,” Eiding said. “We need more engagement and commitment from employers both large and small so that we can perform the special training needed to be their employees such as internships and apprenticeships. Where we have meaningful collaboration, we create life-sustaining jobs.”
If left unaddressed, local experts said the skills gap will hinder economic growth and prevent small businesses from being able to compete with larger corporations.
“The Center for Workforce Development also works closely with businesses to help mitigate the shortage of skilled workers in manufacturing. Working in partnership with the County of Bucks, the Bucks County Workforce Development Board and PA CareerLink, the college has developed and implemented pre-apprenticeship programs designed to upskill and retrain un-and underemployed individuals to learn new skills to fill the ever growing gap for well trained entry-level employees for manufacturing jobs,” Susan Herring, interim executive director of the Center for Workforce Development at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pennsylvania, said. “As retirements loom large for businesses, more well-trained entry-level employees will be necessary to feed to manufacturing businesses to keep them thriving in our local economy.”