Bump incomes by match training with business needs

In his eight years, Governor Phil Bryant has effectively touted strategic workforce training as a key to job creation and higher household incomes. He often tells of being the son of a diesel mechanic, a once hardscrabble, but noble, profession that has evolved into a high-tech skill requiring knowledge of complex, computer-driven engines changing at a rapid pace.

Governor Bryant has humorously said many times Mississippi businesses need more skilled technicians, engineers, and computer scientists, not philosophers. It’s true. More plain talk like this is needed. Today, some educational programs match up with job demands, but many don’t. Mississippi’s pace of economic growth is inextricably tied to increasing the number of people trained with skills for jobs that actually exist.

As more students enter and complete high-demand programs, two things will happen. First, business productivity will increase as qualified hiring pools grow. Second, those students will come out making more money. Before students can enter these programs, they must know about these opportunities. The task is to carry the Governor’s torch and encourage individuals to choose high-demand programs.

There is concrete evidence Mississippi can grow a skilled workforce. For the past decade, awareness of high-paying welding careers has increased as welders became the poster child for technical careers. This craft pays and is in demand here and yonder.  On the workforce development platform, the need for more welders became the most common example of technical career opportunities. 

Consequently, Mississippi has many more trained welders today than a decade ago. Looking at just the last ten years, 66% more welders were trained in 2014-2018 than in the prior five-year period. This sharp increase proves Mississippi is capable of spiking a high-demand, high-paying skill. Welding will continue to be a hot job opportunity, but it’s not for everyone. There are others.

Take the Governor’s example of diesel technicians. After 14 months at the community college, starting salaries for graduates can be double the private sector average and can quickly escalate to six-figure salaries with experience. On Highway 49 just south of Jackson, it’s hard to miss the heavy equipment and trucking corridor that continues to grow and invest, whether it be John Deere and Caterpillar heavy equipment or Freightliner trucks.

An army of trained individuals are required by these companies and others to keep the economy moving. Just last month, the Mississippi State Workforce Investment Board reported that demand exists for over 200 new diesel equipment specialists every year while only about 70 per year are graduating from these programs. Similar gaps exist in other high-demand skilled trades. These skills in information technology, manufacturing, energy, transportation and healthcare can all be found on Mississippi’s Virtual Guidance Counselor, getonthegridms.com, so students can find one suited for them.

More people in skilled trades, like diesel technicians, means more economic growth and more of our students trained into areas which give them the pay and quality of life they seek, right here at home in Mississippi.

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Garrett McInnis is executive vice president for The Skills Foundation of Mississippi, a 501c3 nonprofit organization working to increase Mississippi’s supply of skilled workforce. He can be reached at garrett@skillsfoundationms.com.