Monday, January 21, 2008

Talent Shortage Conspiracy

The talent search boondoggle continues in Ohio:

This year, the state is launching two programs aimed at helping the industrial work force evolve in an increasingly high-tech economy.

One initiative — the Ohio Workforce Guarantee Program — will give training grants to relocating or expanding companies.

The other — the Ohio Skills Bank — will coax businesses and educators to discuss matching current and future vocational needs with school budgets, course work and counseling.

''We have spoken about the concept over the last couple of months and the response has been positive,'' said Thomas Fellrath, project manager for the Ohio Skills Bank. ''We have a wonderful adult education system and . . . regions of the state want to see greater alignment of work force and training out there.''

Dorothy Baunach, president of the region's technology advocate group NorTech, said the talent shortage is holding the region's economic recovery back.

''Our problem used to be capital,'' she said. But young nonprofit organizations formed to bring money to early growth companies have made progress.

''Now they can't find the people they need, from CEOs to the technical folks needed to do the day-to-day work,'' she said.

The talent gap is particularly acute in Northeast Ohio's high-growth fields of science, engineering, health care and information technology, she said.

The Ohio Workforce Guarantee Program can make a quick impact, said Terry Thomas, assistant director for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

That program, operated by the Ohio Department of Development, is ready to offer grants of up to $750,000 to employers that are expanding or moving into the state.

Sobering news if you didn't read the article in today's Washington Post titled, "Highly Skilled And Out Of Work." Isn't the MSM part of the globalist conspiracy? I think what would explain the discrepancy is a lag in migration. Not enough talent is moving to Ohio to keep up with employer demand. However, instead of seeking the "highly skilled and out of work" in the DC region (among other places), the state plans to spend a lot of money retraining the workforce already living in Ohio.

In short, highly skilled labor isn't going where it is most needed.

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