Back to work

Derailed

You may have to learn new skills to get the job you want. Help is out there

By ANNEMARIE SCHUETZ
Posted 10/6/21

REGION — Back in May of 2020, management consultants McKinsey & Company called for the re-skilling of the global workforce.

“In 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that …

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Back to work

Derailed

You may have to learn new skills to get the job you want. Help is out there

Posted

REGION — Back in May of 2020, management consultants McKinsey & Company called for the re-skilling of the global workforce.

“In 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that as many as 375 million workers—or 14 percent of the global workforce—would have to switch occupations or acquire new skills by 2030 because of automation and artificial intelligence,” Sapana Agrawal et al wrote. “In a recent McKinsey Global Survey, 87 percent of executives said they were experiencing skill gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years.”

That was fairly early on in the pandemic. Now the calls for a re-educated workforce have only grown.

People are going back to work, but not at the rates expected after extra unemployment pay ran out. Benefits ended at the beginning of September, but the number of unemployed is still high compared with pre-pandemic years. In August 2021, Sullivan County’s rate was 5 percent. In August 2019, for example, the rate was 3.4 percent.

And in 2021, “help wanted” signs are everywhere.

People may not be taking service jobs because they might prefer work that’s less risky in the COVID era or less shift-based. Gaby Del Valle, writing in Eater, said that workers want wages that make the risk worth it.

Higher-paying jobs, in construction or auto mechanics, are out there, but workers might need to learn new skills. Sullivan County’s Center for Workforce Development (CWD) is designing a program with Johnson College in Scranton to bring that kind of training to the county, for workers who are no longer part of the school system.

Creating those opportunities is the reason for agencies like the Center for Workforce Development or the Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance. If you want to change jobs, or even careers, and are afraid the training might be too heavy a lift, give them a call. They’ll help you.

Sullivan County Center for Workforce Development, 845/807-0387, www.sullivanny.us/Departments/Workforcedevelopment.

Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance, 570296-2909, www.wpworkforce.org.

re-skilling, retraining, re-educating, unemployment, Center for Workforce Development, Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance

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