Published: April 15, 2008 11:51 pm      

Forum looks 10 years forward

Employer needs, work force skills discussed

Ashland — The needs of employers and the skills of the work force just aren’t matching up in northeastern Kentucky, panelists in an economic forum concluded Tuesday.

Foreign competition, the “brain drain” and the aging of the baby boom generation were among the issues discussed in a forum sponsored by Morehead State University’s Ashland campus.

There aren’t enough American students entering science, math and engineering fields, agreed the panelists, who included Ashland Alliance President Jim Purgerson, Ashland Economic Development Director Chris Pullem and Larry Ferguson, director of business and industrial services for Ashland Community and Technical College.

In contrast to the dearth of Americans studying engineering and technology is the glut of students in China and India earning degrees in those areas, Pullem said.

Workers, including those in professional fields, are aging and retiring, and not enough young workers are replacing them.

Employers, including those in northeast Kentucky, need skilled workers, and not only can’t they find them now, but face enormous obstacles in ensuring the supply in the future, Ferguson said.

Better communication between business and academia is a priority, Purgerson said. Schools need to start as early as middle school, or even earlier, to guide students into high-demand careers. Chances are most middle and high school students don’t know which fields hold the most potential, he said.

Further, it is likely students gravitate to other fields because math and science are harder subjects, he said.

In fact, students at Morehead quite often don’t have the skills to go into science and technology programs, said MSU career services director Julia Hawkins.

She recommended more emphasis on math and science starting in middle school.

Parents can be another obstacle, Ferguson said. A majority of jobs in the next decade will require technical training but not a college degree, yet parents typically urge their children toward liberal arts programs, he said.

It will be necessary to view the work force demand as a marketing issue, providing education on available jobs, Purgerson said.

Culture changes also are affecting the job marketplace, panelists agreed. Young workers entering the job market often lack fundamental skills of communication, teamwork, commitment and even grooming, perhaps as a result of spending more leisure time online rather than interacting with others.

Paradoxically, online courses are now a staple of post-secondary education, a phenomenon that can’t be turned back.

Fundamental workplace skills need to be implanted throughout the school years, they said.

While the forum didn’t come up with any definitive solutions, it served its purpose by initiating the conversation, said Joel Pace, MSU’s Ashland campus director.

“We wanted to foster the opportunity to get business leaders to discuss the problems facing the Ashland community,” he said.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.