Have Jobs Need Skills

With the unemployment rate in Massachusetts hovering around 8.7%, it can be difficult to believe that there are some local jobs sitting open due to lack of qualified candidates. In places like inbound marketing firm Hubspot and Tewksbury's Raytheon unit, it's a reality HR professionals are seeing more and more. Journalist Curt Nickisch, explored this issue in a recent story on WBUR, saying:

"It’s normal to have a mismatch between the skills employers need and the skills prospective workers have. But what’s troubling is that the recession and growing unemployment are making this mismatch even bigger."

Nickisch goes on to talk about an effort that is working to equip job seekers with the skills that the market demands. That effort, named SkillWorks --  is a public/private partnership of philanthropy, government, community organizations, unions, and employers to create a workforce development system.  United Way was one of the orginal funders of SkillWorks which, in addition to information technology companies as been working to equip local job seekers with skills needed for green energy industry jobs.

SkillWorks engages in three strategies to change the workforce training system in Boston:

1. Workforce Partnerships: Industry-sector or occupationally based workforce intermediaries are the operational approach to achieving the SkillWorks goal.
2. Public Policy Advocacy: SkillWorks seeks to institutionalize better ways for low-income individuals to enter and succeed in the workforce.
3. Capacity Building: Skillworks provides capacity building assistance to help workforce partnerships become more effective at providing workforce training and education services.

Learn more about SkillWorks.

Listen to / Read the full WBUR Story