TOPEKA — The Kansas Chamber released a blueprint for upgrading workforce development Wednesday that relies on expanding high school and college students’ preparation for high-demand careers, massive growth of apprenticeship opportunities and investment in recruiting of younger adults leaving the military and former Kansans living in nearby Midwest cities.
At the core of the analysis was the belief states successful in building a bigger talent pipeline to educate, train, recruit and retain a qualified workforce would exceed economic progress in states that fell short on that front. The report sponsored by the Kansas Chamber and produced by Economic Leadership, a consulting firm in Raleigh, N.C., focused on how education could better align with staffing needs of industries.
“You’re in competition with the other states in the country and labor is the top issue,” said Ted Abernathy, of Economic Leadership. “You cannot have a state that’s going to be successful that isn’t able to grow its labor and isn’t able to continue to give its labor the skills that they need in a pretty fast changing world.”
The report concluded Kansas businesses were having difficulty finding workers with required skills, employers weren’t sufficiently involved in the education system’s workforce development and the state’s colleges and universities should more quickly respond to economic shifts.
“We expect this report to be a living plan that will improve and expand in the next few years as the Chamber meets and works with other stakeholders committed to addressing our state’s workforce challenges,” said Alan Cobb, president of the Kansas Chamber.
The report included 20 reform ideas, including a suggestion Kansas labor law be amended to allow people under 18 to get more work experience and to extend school district liability coverage to protect businesses that take on young employees or interns.
