WASHINGTON – Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said Thursday she is working with business leaders to expand apprenticeships designed to train skilled workers that America needs in its growing manufacturing, health care, IT sectors.
“The job is now of a programmer, a problem solver and often a coach if you are running a factory floor,” Pritzker said during a live stream of her appearance at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colo. “The jobs are going to require you to work with machines… For the first time in 10 years, we’ve seen manufacturing jobs and manufacturing output in the United States grow.”
The jobs report released earlier Thursday by the Labor Department showed employers added a robust 288,000 new jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent — the lowest level since September 2008.
However, manufacturing industry leaders say that the increasingly sophisticated sector can’t find enough skilled labor to fill job openings.
“At least 600,000 jobs in manufacturing are going unfilled because of the skills gap,” said Joe Trauger, vice president of Human Resources Policy at the National Association of Manufacturers.
In an internal poll, 80 percent of the NMA’s members reported a modest to severe labor shortage and concerns about an aging workforce. “What that translates to is about an 11 percent shortfall in potential revenues each year. So it’s a very real issue,” Trauger added.
Trauger, in an interview, said the skill set the industry needs has become “much more highly technical” than it was. “It ranges from the basic skills from showing up on time and being ready to work to having certified skills in the areas of welding or machining,” he added.
Secretary Pritzker, a billionaire and former CEO, has for the first time made skills development a top priority for the Commerce Department, according to the agency which is charged with spurring economy growth and helping to create jobs. She is working with the Labor and Education departments using grants of $150 million to equip Americans with employable skills via apprenticeships.
“The grants that the Department of Labor gives out are supporting the idea that all training needs to be business-led and job-driven,” Pritzker said. “Eighty-seven percent of people who go through apprenticeships end up with a job.”
The department plans to expand apprenticeships into areas of information technology and health care, where there are enormous job needs.
America’s young job seekers may be most in need of these programs. More than 15 percent of young people – 18 to 29 – were still out of work in June, said Generation Opportunity, a national youth advocacy organization.
“As to the matter of the labor market improving, we haven’t quite seen that to be the case as it pertains to Millennials,” said Generation Opportunity’s spokeswoman Corie Whalen. “The ultimate problem is that many Millennials simply can’t get their feet in the door.”
Pritzker wants the U.S. education system to be more outcome-based to better deal with the skills mismatch. “I absolutely think we need to re-orient our K-12. We need to make manufacturing more real for young people. That means fifth, sixth, seventh grade. If you are not studying the math, it’s too late by the time you graduate high school.”
The Commerce Department is working with 21 trade associations to create a set of skills’ credentials that are nationally recognized. Pritzker said the goal is to make such certificates it “affordable,” “recognized,” and “valuable.”