Workforce Development

It is clear that staying put has a cost, mostly because of the kinds of jobs millennials are likely to land these days: lower-paying positions that often don’t require a college degree.

The ratio of workers to retirees will drop precipitously in numerous countries worldwide this century, potentially sending nations into a financial tailspin.

Now that Montana’s unemployment rate is down to normal levels, concerns about worker shortages are becoming even more common.

Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWT) through the Montana Department of Labor & Industry http://www.wsd.dli.mt.gov/service/iwt.asp MT Department of Commerce Workforce Training Grant Program for Primary Sector Workforce http://wtg.mt.gov/default.mcpx

"Customer work, process work and vast swatches of middle management will simply ‘disappear.’

"I think that increasingly in the US, there are two paralleled economies."

In a survey of 12,000 information security specialists by the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, 56 percent said their organization was understaffed in that department.

With the need for workers so great, and the benefits of working in manufacturing so apparent, what are the steps we can take to bulk up the skilled workforce in our industry?

Acadia is an employee-centric company. Their company philosophy is "Never settle."

This view is evident in the people they hire.

When Gov. Steve Bullock announced the state’s new business plan, "Main Street Montana Project," earlier this summer, apprenticeships were mentioned up top as a key way to "train and educate tomorrow’s workforce today."