Tick, Tock on the Clock

No, I’m not singing the pop song “TiK ToK” by Kesha – I’m trying to express the importance and urgency of updating Hoosier workforce skills. Seriously, the clock is ticking.

As the four experts who discussed this need in our most recent roundtable discussion in the current edition of BizVoice® have attested, the skills that were once able to secure a good job just won’t suffice now.

“We see the jobs that required low skill levels and lack of computational ability; lack of ability to evaluate information, analyze information and generally contribute to a company’s bottom line – those jobs just don’t exist any longer,” notes Gina DelSanto, senior deputy commissioner for education and training at the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

For Indiana to remain competitive, more residents need the skills to fill open jobs in technology, manufacturing, logistics and more. Part of the problem stems from a lack of education for many Hoosiers.

“With more than 500,000 members of our workforce, there is more than one in five lacking a high school diploma. Those individuals simply do not have the skills that they need in order to compete for jobs and help Indiana companies become stronger in the new economy,” DelSanto adds.

Read the full article to find out about a surprising mismatch between the number of employers with job openings and the high unemployment rate, as well as the success story of a southwestern Indiana company.