Getting our workforce in gear
Western Pennsylvania truly will need more skilled workers in the next decade. DENNIS P. GILFOYLE, CEO of Junior Achievement, knows how to get them young
Our region has a reputation for being resource rich: birthplace of the oil industry and source of the coal that energized an electricitydriven industrial economy, natural gas that fueled warm homes and meals, and water — plenty to drink and to keep commerce flowing. The economic engine that was built on those readily available natural assets also led to a reputation for Pittsburghers as strong, get-it-done, no-nonsense people — mentions of Pittsburgh often include a reference to our “blue collar” culture.
But therein lies the problem: our people. No, we haven’t lost our “out think and out produce them” mojo — we’re simply running into the same demographic issue faced by the rest of the nation: over the next decade there aren’t going to be enough of us to fuel a growing economic engine. And if we’re not careful — and energized and strategic — we risk the possibility of shrinking. None of us wants to do that again.
The source of that sobering news is a study by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development to gauge how the changing nature of employment and aging demographics will affect the 10-county Western Pennsylvania region. It’s called “Inflection Point: Supply, Demand and the Future of Work in the Pittsburgh Region.” (The full report is at www.AlleghenyConference.org.) The headline: Our Pittsburgh region workforce is projected to have a shortfall of 80,000 workers by 2025.
There are many reasons for that — the study cites retiring baby boomers, not enough people moving in to grow our population, too many of the 40,000 students who graduate each year from a full range of postsecondary studies here leave to chase career fortunes elsewhere, and more. When you combine those factors with lackluster performance in economic growth, job growth, unemployment and business formation, it’s clear we have work to do.
Out of all the options available, there is one source of future talent we can influence almost immediately: our K-12 student population. I know, because I lead Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania, which for more than 75 years has worked with them — and our school teachers, administrators and business community — to help prepare young people for their future.
Just about every day in the school year, volunteers from the business community deliver a proven JA curriculum that has helped build skills and prepare students for productive career pursuits in the workforce.
From JA’s vantage point in the classroom, we know this isn’t the first time a workforce issue emerged here that called for the community to
together and collaborate on efforts to solve it.
In 1994, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (now Catalyst Connection) established Allegheny County’s School-toWork program. It was a community-based, business-led initiative designed to align student learning with the economy, the “world of work.”
By 1997, the local School-toWork program had morphed into the Southwestern Pennsylvania Connection. It was designed to align students’ work readiness with business/industry needs, and increase their awareness of available career opportunities and the education, training and skills necessary to be successful in them.
JA supported these initiatives through our Vision ’99 program, which reached all of Pittsburgh Public Schools’ 40,000 students. More recently, in 2011, the JA Careers in Energy program was developed in partnership with the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Department of Environmental Protection and other key stakeholders to inspire young people to explore careers in energy and related industries.
JA’s efforts in Western Pennsylvania over the last several decades can cite significant outcomes. A recent study of over 700 JA participants found that JA alumni have higher educational attainment and higher median salaries, graduate from high school at a higher rate and start businesses at 2½ times the rate of students who do not participate in JA programs.
In a marketplace that is demanding specific skills, what do we know about their thinking and judgments about their futures and careers?
Today’s teens want to pursue careers that will provide both financial rewards and job satisfaction, but many aren’t sure of the direction they want to take and even more don’t know how to get there. Several studies conducted by JA over the last few years highlight these findings.
In 2013, JA and the ING Foundation conducted their annual Teens & Careers Survey to gauge teens’ perspectives on their ideal careers and what steps they will need to take to get on their desired career path. A troubling finding was a decrease of 15 percent in the number of teens interested in careers in STEM and medical fields. Also among the findings, though 83 percent of the students felt they would find their “dream” job, a majority, 53 percent, indicated they had not taken or were not aware of taking any steps to pay for schooling required by their career choice.
And what of the young people who want to be their own boss? A study conducted by JA, YPulse and the Young Entrepreneurs Council, titled “Millennials & Entrepreneurship,” found that millennials admire and demonstrate entrepreneurial tendencies; however they are risk-averse, due to the recent recession making them afraid to go “all-in.”
So what do we do to reach young people and entice them with our dynamic, contemporary Pittsburgh — and the career choices that will be a match for the available jobs — and then get them to investigate and buy?
The Allegheny Conference’s Workforce Committee, led by PNC’s CEO Bill Demchak, is leading efforts that include:
• Identify and recruit talent with the right skills from other regions where the cost of living and quality of life have flipped from benefit to burden.
• Local employers are being encouraged to consider investing in talent instead of consuming it — hiring younger and training up existing staff so they don’t move out of town for a higher salary.
• Community leaders are reaching out to our many universities seeking to more fully connect students to the Pittsburgh experience so they might consider our community for their career and family life after graduation.
As for JA, we see this as another opportunity to help. We’re developing ideas to modify our programs — using information in the “Inflection Point” study to begin connecting today’s students with the opportunities of the future. Junior Achievement also wants to create some excitement, making an entertaining case for making this region home. We call it “The Pittsburgh Pitch” and will deliver it with video and digital tools that are the preferred information and entertainment media for the region’s future workforce.
With these ideas and others, we expect to have an impact: Junior Achievement USA research shows 90 percent of former students say their JA experience helped them get a good job, and 30 percent credit JA for influencing their career decision.
JA knows we’re just one part of the solution, but we’ve been here before. (“Help Wanted in Pittsburgh,” a white paper about JA as a solution provider to our region’s workforce needs, can be found on our website, jawesternpa.org.)
The Inflection Point study is a rich trove of data and direction to feed a strategic solution. As we move from study and strategy to activation and engagement, JA wants to use its resources and relationships to minimize the risk and maximize the rewards of successfully navigating this latest workforce challenge. We need more people — and many of them are already here!