Wisconsin Looks To Address Long-Term And Short-Term Workforce Challenges

It will take a range of approaches to address the state’s long- and short-term workforce needs, according to Wisconsin’s secretary of workforce development.

Ray Allen said that with the latest unemployment rate at a record-low 2.8 percent, his agency is working to help employers fill immediate openings.

An ad campaign from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is aimed at attracting more veterans and young workers from other Midwestern states to Wisconsin.

Allen also said his agency and others are also planning to expand a program where state officials visit military bases to talk about job opportunities with servicemembers.

“We’re going to take employers with us to promote the jobs that are here in Wisconsin,” he said. “You take companies that have programs that really focus on vets or would love to have vets as potential employees. Because they do bring with them a core set of skills that are ready made for the kinds of jobs we have in Wisconsin.”

But as the state’s workforce ages, Allen said it will take ongoing investments in education and job programs to fill positions in the future — like youth apprenticeship programs “… so that individuals can have options. They can leave high school, have skill sets so that they can get employment right away if that’s what they choose to do, or at least have that skill set already built so if they’re going to a four-year institution to get a four-year degree, they’ve got a solid foundation that’s prepared them for work once they graduate.”