Windham Workforce Investment Board Conducts Local Survey

WESTMINSTER, VT. - In a recent survey conducted by the Windham Workforce Investment Board (WIB), over half of the local business owners surveyed indicated that although they plan to hire new employees within the next year, filling many of these positions may be difficult to achieve.

The survey also indicated that many of these same employers reported already having trouble in the past, finding capable workers to fill positions. Concerns are be raised over applicants general lack of specific qualifications, problems with the general readiness to work and soft skills, including personal grooming and attitude.

"The survey paints a troubling picture about our local workforce," Bruce Gardner said of the survey results. "In order for our region to attract and retain employers and create good jobs, we need talented workers with the specialized skills to fill good jobs in both our blue-collar and white-collar industries."

WIB is a state-funded and community-driven organization dedicated to addressing and monitoring the region's challenges within the workforce. They provide a an open forum for employers, community leaders and service providers to identify employment and training needs, plan and implement solutions and promote available resources.

"The Windham WIB is more concerned with improving the preparedness of the workforce, as opposed to changing perceptions," David Altstadt said in a recent interview. Altstadt is the Coordinator for WIB. "With that said, the WIB is promoting a worker assessment tool, called WorkKeys that can address each issue.

“WorkKeys gives job seekers yet another way to demonstrate their skills and abilities to potential employers. Just as jobseekers would list their academic credentials and work experiences on their resume or job application, they can list their scores on WorkKeys tests as another indication to employers of their employability.”

In the view of the WIB, achieving a high score on the WorkKeys math test, for instance, may be stronger evidence of a jobseeker's current math skills than their high school diploma proves, especially if the jobseeker graduated several years ago. Jobseekers who take WorkKeys would have a leg-up on other job applicants, if employers recognize the value of WorkKeys.

The Windham WIB is working very hard to get the word out to employers that WorkKeys can help with screening job applicants and guiding training and promotion decisions for their current workers.

“The WIB is spending quite a bit of time talking with employers about WorkKeys”, Altstadt added. “We are also planning initiatives to train workers for targeted industry sectors, including manufacturing and health care. The WIB is also working with metals manufacturers to expand the use of an online training program called ToolingU.

“In health care, the WIB is building on a successful initiative for training nursing assistants. The WIB will work with local education institutions and nursing homes to figure out how to continue the education of nursing assistants to prepare them for higher-level, higher-paid positions in patient care.

Emailed in June, the survey was distributed to members of the Great Falls Chamber of Commerce, Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce and the Mount Snow Chamber of Commerce. A total of 75 responses were returned from various employers. To learn more about WIB or the recent survey, visit online at http://sevca.northeastbyrail.com/windhamwib.