RI leaders hold summit on work force development

From the Boston Globe | Jun 13, 2011 by Erika Niedowski

WARWICK, R.I.—Business, education and labor leaders in Rhode Island met Monday to discuss ways to better prepare young people to enter the work force in the state.

Experts say Rhode Island, which has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates, is being hit hard by the so-called "skills recession." That's when jobs are available but there aren't enough trained workers to fill them. By the end of 2018, the demand for "middle-skill" workers, who have some college or an associate's degree, is projected to exceed the supply in southern New England.

At a summit on the issue in Warwick at the Community College of Rhode Island, U.S. Rep. David Cicilline called the situation an "impending crisis." The Providence Democrat said businesses won't be able to prosper without access to a pipeline of workers with the skills and credentials that make them "employment-ready."

Rhode Island has the nation's third highest jobless rate at just under 11 percent.

The skills gap is fueled in part by a steep high school dropout rate. While that is a national problem, in Rhode Island for every 100 students who enter high school, only 73 will graduate, said Ray DiPasquale, president of CCRI. Of those 73, 40 will enter college. Among those who do attend college, just over half will earn a degree.

But the skills gap is also a result of a disconnect between the state's education system and the business community, according to experts. That means students who attend college or technical programs aren't necessarily learning what companies need them to know.

The gap comes with a substantial economic impact.

"If firms can't find workers with the right mix of skills, they can't grow the economy," Alicia Sasser Modestino, senior economist in the New England Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, told the conference.

Some Rhode Island businesses have tried unsuccessfully for months to fill openings -- a counterintuitive conundrum in an economy where scores are out of work. NetCenergy, an IT consulting firm based in Warwick that has grown exponentially since its launch in 2003, has two openings that have gone unfilled, including one newly created position. Owner Don Nokes says he has plenty of resumes, he just can't find anyone with the right abilities.

Ideally, he'd bring in what he calls a "top-tier" candidate at a salary of up to $70,000 -- someone who already has all the technical and "soft" skills, including good customer service and fluency in documentation. But he's given up looking for that kind of person. Instead, he's trying to hire someone at a salary of $35,000 to $40,000, knowing he'll need to train them.

Nokes, who was not among those attending the conference, said his firm spends about $35,000 a year on its training program.

"When you sit down and write your business model, you didn't really expect you were going to have to spend this much time and effort in the training. You're looking to bring on people that carry their water, people that can produce for you what you are paying them for, as soon as possible," he said.

"It requires more of a partnership between the educational institutions and the actual companies that are hiring these skilled people."

U.S. Rep. James Langevin, a speaker at the Monday summit, said he hears regularly from businesses like Nokes' that are struggling to make hires.

"If we don't match up skills with workers and companies are forced to outsource, they're going to move to another location where they do have an abundance of these skilled workers. I don't want to see companies leave Rhode Island," he said.

The summit was held in partnership with Harvard University Graduate School of Education's Pathways to Prosperity Project. A February report found the U.S. is failing to prepare its young people to lead successful lives.