Business Case Study: Why Hire a VET?
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Got Skills?
Google the phrase, “Lack of Skilled Workers,” and some pretty scary results appear: “Lack of Skilled Workers Threatens Economic Growth” and “A Shortage of Skilled Workers Threatens Manufacturing’s Rebound,” to name two. The word “threatens” comes up a lot.
Despite some naysayers who claim the skills gap is a distant cousin to the Lochness Monster and Big Foot, most industry and government experts have agreed for the past 25 years that a dearth of skilled employees means that employers cannot fill highly skilled positions resulting in higher than necessary unemployment numbers and unfilled jobs.
And according to some, it’s about to get worse.
Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute’s “The skills gap in U.S. manufacturing 2015 and beyond” reports that 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled in the next decade but, because of the skills gap, 2 million jobs are projected to go unfilled (2).
This outlook is bad news for many, but good news for you if you already have highly sought-after skills or are willing to acquire them.
Moving Forward—Don’t Depend on Potential
Once upon a time, companies were willing to invest in potential; if a hiring manager saw potential, they may recommend hiring with the intent to train an employee in order to develop the skills the company needed. Some companies still do this but, increasingly, hiring managers are looking for individuals who already have skills in hand.
So, while you may have potential, it’s better to develop the skills employees want. The applicant with the IT certificate in hand will get the job over the applicant with potential in hand.