December 2003 From the President

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Meeting future workforce needs

By Kenneth O. Decko

CBIA President and CEO

When it comes to business competitiveness, one of the things Connecticut has had going for it is its high-skilled, well-educated workforce. That workforce has attracted knowledge-intensive and technology-dependent industries to Connecticut.

Even so, the supply of skilled, knowledgeable workers hasn’t always matched the needs of Connecticut businesses, resulting in shortages of certain types of workers — a problem that has sometimes stifled business growth.

That problem may soon become acute, especially in manufacturing and technology industries. As our cover story this month notes, the retirement of millions of baby boomers over the next decade may leave employers scrambling to find enough qualified people simply to replace the retirees, never mind fill new positions to handle business expansion.

While there are some things employers can start doing to meet their coming workforce needs, policy makers must play a role as well. In particular, they should:

make sure high school graduates have the skills needed for technology jobs;

improve student achievement levels, especially in urban areas where student performance has been lagging;

increase the numbers of young people exposed to manufacturing careers; and

ensure that job training programs are equipping people with skills needed in the workplace.

CBIA has been working with the state on all of those goals. For example, we’re helping state education officials identify “best practices” being used by successful urban schools in order to help underperforming schools improve. We’re piloting a State Scholars Initiative in several schools to motivate students to take a more advanced course of study. We’ve been helping employers train their employees. And we’re now planning a manufacturing careers campaign.