It’s Workforce Development Month – a time to highlight how workforce development professionals across the state are connecting Minnesotans with employment and helping Minnesota employers hire the staff they need for their businesses to thrive. Governor Walz just proclaimed September as Workforce Development Month – one of the many ways Minnesota state agencies, non-profit organizations and other entities are marking the month.
Government and non-profit workforce development partners, educational institutions and employers throughout the state along with other workforce system stakeholders are working together to connect people who need employment to the employers who need them. These collaborative efforts are aimed at welcoming people to Minnesota, retaining current workers, reaching out to include often-overlooked communities and targeting training investments to help Minnesotans prepare for in-demand occupations.
“One example of public-private collaboration is the Drive for 5-funded partnership between Southwest Metro Intermediate School District 288, the Shakopee Area Chamber of Commerce, nearby Minnesota State colleges and staff at the Shakopee CareerForce location,” said DEED CareerForce Division Director Jeanna Fortney. “This partnership will assist employers looking to hire workers by bringing more people into the labor force – and it will help job seekers by preparing them with in-demand skills and connecting them with local employers in the Drive for 5 sectors.”
Drive for 5 is a new initiative just getting underway now that brings together training providers and industry or business representatives, along with employers and other partners, to prepare more Minnesotans for high-demand jobs in five occupational categories: the caring professions, education, manufacturing, technology and the trades.
“In Duluth, the City and Duluth Workforce Development Board, along with our partners at CareerForce, are actively working together with employers, unions, local colleges and school districts and community organizations to raise awareness around career opportunities in construction, manufacturing and health care in our region,” said Duluth Workforce Development Director Elena Foshay. “We are also helping students and jobseekers explore training options and connect to high-demand jobs in our community that offer good wages and opportunities to grow and advance.”
Drive for 5 is one of several new or expanded initiatives coming out of the 2023 legislative session. Other highlights include the Transformative Career Pathway Competitive Grants Program that serves populations who have been historically overlooked and often face multiple barriers to employment, the new Clean Economy Equitable Workforce grants, an increase in funding for youth employment, training and education programs and additional funding for programs that help connect Minnesotans with disabilities to employment.
While Minnesota’s labor market is gradually loosening following the rapid pandemic jobs recovery, many employers across the state continue to face challenges hiring staff. The tight labor market is likely continuing to constrain job growth in certain industries. The labor shortage is caused in large part by a rapidly aging population and a large number of baby boomers retiring, a demographic trend decades in the making here in Minnesota and across the country. While Minnesota already has one of the highest labor force participation rates in the country, helping more people to join or rejoin the labor force will help both employers and workers succeed.
