washington business
find out what local business owners and community leaders said were the top priorities for economic growth. Education and workforce needs surfaced as top needs during every stop of the tour. The anecdotes helped to confirm the findings of a 2013 joint report by the Boston Consulting Group( BCG) and Washington Research Council( WRC), that the estimated skills-gap— or the gap between the skills young people have when they get out of school and the skills that employers need— amounted to 25,000 jobs, a figure that is expected to double by 2017.
It’ s a troubling statistic as the tech and high-tech manufacturing sectors soar in the state. But some positive signs are emerging.
“ Just like anything, workforce readiness could be improved, but we’ ve been very fortunate with our community colleges,” said Vaughan, who handles marketing development at Vaughan Company.
Michael Marzetta, president of Altek, Inc., which manufactures items for medical, aerospace, defense and industrial sectors, said community colleges in Eastern Washington have been responsive to the company’ s workforce needs.
“ Spokane Community College has stepped up and doubled the size of its machine shop program and updated to CAD and things like that,” he said.“ I wouldn’ t exactly say that schools are catching up quite yet, but they are doing a heck of a lot better.”
Amy Anderson, AWB’ s government affairs director for education and workforce issues, agreed with Marzetta, but explained that more educational innovation needs to be embraced in high schools. at a glance
Washington had more than
289,000 manufacturing employees in 2014
with an average annual compensation of
$ 84,447
“ I wouldn’ t exactly say that schools are catching up quite yet, but they are doing a heck of a lot better.”
— Michael Marzetta, president, Altek, Inc.
“ Getting kids excited about hands-on fields, building things and developing a passion for inventing and possibly discovering a potential career in manufacturing should start early on,” Anderson said.“ We’ re seeing programs like Spokane Valley Tech, Aviation High School in Tukwila and others cropping up, but as the industry changes, this‘ beyond-the-book’ education must be expanded to give students, the next generation of Washington workers, an understanding that manufacturing is a worthwhile career choice.”
The industry pays well, which should serve as another attraction for students to take a look at the sector, Anderson added.
According to the National Association of Manufacturers’ 2013 data, employees in manufacturing receive an average annual compensation of more than $ 84,000 per year, well above the national average salary of just below $ 54,000.
positives, challenges and policies in washington
Despite some good news on the education front, manufacturing is facing a rough road ahead.
A 2013 joint report by the Boston Consulting Group( BCG) and Washington Research Council estimated the skills-gap was 25,000 and is expected to double by 2017.
Eliminating the job skills gap by 2017 could result in 160,000 new jobs in the state and reduce the unemployment rate by up to 2 percentage points, as outlined in the BCG report.
The BCG report also estimates that solving the job skills gap would generate $ 720 million in additional state tax revenues and $ 80 million in local tax revenues annually.
Washington’ s manufacturing sector lost 1,800 jobs in February and March 2016, according to the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council’ s May update.
The Institute of Supply Management- Western Washington Index reported declines in Washington’ s manufacturing sector, a drop to 50.8 in April from 55.7 in March( index values above 50 indicate positive growth while values below 50 indicate contraction).
Washington had more than 289,000 manufacturing employees in 2014, with an average annual compensation of $ 84,447, according to the National Association of Manufacturers’ 2015 report. summer 2016 33