Montana launches online job resource-employers need skilled workers...
In Gallatin County, Montana, today's employers need to teach as much as anything else. The demand for skilled workers in the Bozeman constuction industry is serious. Most employees who come into a skilled construction job lack the skills necessary to do the work. People are quitting school to take relatively high-paying, low-skilled jobs because of the basic need for all types of workers, especially those in the construction trade.
"In the Gallatin Valley, we see a lot of commercial construction. ... You need a lot more people skilled in masonry, steel workers," David Smith, President of the Bozeman, Montana Chamber of Commerce, said. "That's a problem that came to our economy in Montana and Bozeman especially, where we didn't have those skills we needed."
The state of Montana is going to the Internet to solve what economists call "structural unemployment," which happens when workers lack the skills companies demand. Montana has launched an online resource tailored to line up the skills workers train for with the skills employers demand.
"We look at it from this standpoint--Students need to have more information. The earlier we can give them that information, the better," said Shaunda Hiderbrand, Director, Montana's Department of Labor and Industry's Work Force Development.
The website is the Occupational Supply Demand System (OSDS), which is paid for by a Perkins Grant, a federal grant program promoting high-skill, -wage, and -demand occupations. The site gives in-depth information on wages, demand, and skill needs for hundreds of jobs in Montana and other states.
Montana's unemployment rate is 3.6%, compared with the U.S. rate of ~5%. Each state has a system; check out yours...
The site states: "The National Occupational Supply Demand Consortium develops and evaluates methodologies for supply/demand analysis of occupations to assist with training and education program planning."
giving you the advantage...®
Taunya Fagan - Bozeman Montana News Stories 406.579.9683 taunya.fagan@prumt.com
