Editorial: Closing skills gap is a business priority

Minnesota's May jobless rate stood at about 5.6 percent, according to state figures. Yet manufacturing employers report that they have unfilled positions because of a lack of qualified applicants.

What's wrong with this picture? And what can be done to match more of the unemployed with those available jobs?

Two colleges in Dakota County recently announced a partnership that will help fill the jobs-skill gap. Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College agreed to provide customized, on-site training and continuing education for businesses.

The colleges will provide "rapid response" training that can occur at the college or at a business and can be arranged quickly depending on the complexity of the program. The innovative effort highlights the types of things that must be done throughout the state's higher-education system for students, the unemployed and for future economic development.

A 2011 survey of more than 500 manufacturing companies by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) showed that half of the respondents had unfilled positions. Those shortages are highest in skilled production and in science and engineering, where 40 to 58 percent of the companies said they had unfilled jobs.

The manufacturers said they expect the shortages to become more significant during the next three years.

To fill those needs, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system is wisely working on strategies to close that skills gap. During the past two months, MnSCU held 44 listening sessions with state businesses, and a dozen more are planned by the end of the year.

One is that employers want workers who have not only the technical knowledge, but foundational skills such as problem-solving; the ability to work in teams, and creative, innovative thinking. Businesses also want more regional or statewide approaches to help them fill positions so that they won't have to develop relationships with multiple campuses.

MnSCU leaders learned that their graduation numbers have been deceptive in some areas. In health care fields, for example, they produce lots of students, yet health care companies still say they have openings because the schools haven't kept up with the new skills they need.

Rosenstone and the leaders of the Dakota County colleges say they're working to offer more centralized places for businesses to turn -- both to find new workers and for help improving the skills of their existing workforces. And although MnSCU schools already have a variety of partnerships within the system, officials will continue to explore ways to better align what they teach with what employers require.

That's exactly the kind of focus that's needed to close the job-skills gap that's been hurting Minnesota's businesses for too long.

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