Page 6 Southwest Florida BuSiNESS ToDay June 2013 Second
1
Page 6 Southwest Florida BUSINESS TODAY June 2013 Workforce Now is a regional research initiative to identify current and future talent requirements for the five counties of Southwest Florida. The initia- tive was created in October 2012 as an outcome of the Education Summit produced by The News-Press Media Group. It is envisioned as a systematic, stra- tegic multi-year focus on understanding and meeting critical workforce needs. The quality of the regional workforce is a primary competitive factor in the region’s ability to grow and prosper in a competitive global marketplace. The Workforce Now initiative is designed to provide bet- ter information on workforce gaps including skills and characteristics desired by regional employers. The plan is to deeply study industries or sectors each year to provide a continuous stream of information from employers to educational institutions, and to look for ways to create dialogue and new partner- ships between businesses and educational institu- tions. This is the second report generated by the region- al Workforce Now initiative providing important information about employment gaps and skills de- sired by regional employers. It provides a summary of the information gained from a 17-question survey and panel discussions by 13 executives representing three key business sectors: 1) Financial/ Insurance/ Banking, 2) Construction/Manufacturing and 3) Tourism/Hospitality. Each company told its story of workforce gaps and needs today and what it forecasts for the next several years at a Workforce Now Forum held on March 19, at Edison State College. Regional edu- cational institutions were invited to hear a panel dis- cussion of this study’s findings. Overall Findings Common themes were that regulation and tech- nology are changing the way companies do busi- ness and requiring workers to acquire new skills and knowledge to be competitive in the workplace. Infor- mation technology applications are becoming much more common combining old world craftsmanship with 21st century technology. All the employers in- dicated a need for continuous learning; good written and oral communication skills; basic computer and business mathematics skills; critical thinking and problem solving skills; and the interest in and ability to work on a team. Financial Sector Needs The financial business sector indicated that the rules of operation have changed with new legislation and regulations. Technology is also changing the way the financial sector interfaces with customers, requiring internet-based banking and applications for mobile devices. The employment gaps identified for the financial sector were in compliance and regulatory areas as well as information technol- ogy areas. The skills/knowledge/traits needed to be successful in the Finance/Insurance/Banking busi- ness sector were identified as: • A working knowledge of tax laws • Decision-making abilities • Business and financial analysis abilities • Critical thinking skills • Ethical behavior • Knowledge of finance and accounting principles and regulations • Ability to persuade others • Time management skills • Written and oral communication skills Construction/Manufacturing Sector Needs The construction/manufacturing business sec- tor indicated that new information technologies are reshaping their businesses. Laptop computers, tab- lets, and smart phones are becoming part of worker scheduling, building maintenance, the parts-ordering process, and monitoring advanced building climate controls. Advanced CNC and robotic machines are becoming more common and allow a higher quality product while increasing flexibility of the design as well as response time. The companies spoke of the need for “old world craftsmanship” with 21st cen- tury technology. The employment gaps identified for the construc- tion/manufacturing sector were drafter/engineers, certified welders, service technicians, control tech- nicians, computer-aided designers (CAD) and com- puter-aided manufacturing (CAM) operators and programmers, CNC 5-axis mill operators, sales en- gineers, production supervisors, and controllers. The overall skills that the Construction/Manufacturing business sector would like to see are: • Ability to read 2D and 3D drawings • CNC robot and machine skills • Communication skills • Critical thinking abilities • Engineering knowledge and/or education • Hand tool skills • Mathematics comprehension • Problem solving skills • Wood shop or carpentry skills Tourism/Hospitality Sector Needs The companies in this sector also indicated that new communication technology such as social me- dia applications and searchable websites were chang- ing the way they do business and communicate with customers. Technology is allowing the business sec- tor to target specific groups of households. There is concern that new regulations including health care and immigration may limit the employee pool or significantly raise operating costs. The hard-to-fill or critical positions identified by this business sector included entry-level employees such as room atten- dants, hostess, food servers, cooks, and guest service agents. This group indicated that graphic artists are important along with Coast Guard certified boat cap- tains. They also indicated that management and mar- keting staff are needed. Independent of the specific positions available in Tourism/Hospitality, the busi- ness sector group wanted each potential employee to have better: • Ability to read social cues • Business mathematics skills • Communication skills • Conflict resolution skills • Creative thinking skills • Organizational skills • Problem solving skills The next steps Future research for 2013 includes interviews with key educational leaders and an online survey of ed- ucators in the next few weeks to better understand their sources of workforce information, the value of the Workforce Now studies, and any impediments that limit their ability to meet regional workforce needs and skill sets. An annual assessment of the overall workforce gaps and skills is planned for this summer to support the overall project and help to target future research. In addition, a regional Workforce Now Summit to report on this year’s study findings will take place October 29, 2013. This new Southwest Florida workforce research initiative has brought together researchers from three of the leading regional higher educational in- stitutions to better understand employer workforce requirements: Florida Gulf Coast University, Edison State College, and Hodges University. For more information about Workforce Now, Mei-Mei Chan, President and Publisher, The News- Press Media Group, [email protected], 239- 335-0277. Second “Workforce Now” report released “Partnering with Goodwill SWFL MicroEnterprise Institute was a great direction for Central Bank as we want to be out there for the community as much as possible,” said Mike Durkin, market president for Central Bank. “After the economic recession hit Southwest Flor - ida much focus was placed on attracting big business and assisting them with job creation in our area, while our focus at Central Bank of Southwest Florida is on the education and financial literacy of individuals who already call Southwest Florida home,” Show said. “Our goal is to help independent small business own- ers grow their business and create new jobs, as well as, help natural entrepreneurs start their own business.” “Central Bank’s generous donation and support al- lows us to expand our program from four to ten pro- grams in 2013,” said Dorothy Browning, program manager of Goodwill’s SWFL MicroEnterprise Insti- tute, “which gives us the opportunity to increase the number of participants by 246 percent.” The Goodwill SWFL MicroEnterprise Institute is available to aspiring small business owners who meet income requirements and live in Lee, Collier, Char - lotte, Hendry or Glades counties. The program pro- vides business and management training and mentor - ing. “Approximately 80 percent of businesses nation- ally – possibly even more locally – are small start-up businesses with five or fewer employees,” Brown- ing added. “Helping them achieve success will create more jobs and revenue for our local community.” CHUCK, from page 3
