TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — "How do we grow talent, how do we acquire talent, how do we retain talent?"
Those are the questions community leaders are trying to answer right now.
Director of Lively Technical College Shelly Bell said there is an increasing number of jobs that need to be filled across the Big Bend.
"I think that we're just growing as a community and I look at just the construction projects going on and that's another area needing skilled laborers whether it's in carpentry, electricians, plumbing, welding, HVAC technicians," said Bell.
Bell also stated there are a ton of jobs open right now in the building trades, aviation, and most of all; healthcare. To help fill the local workforce gap, several organizations are putting their heads together to come up with a solution.
"It helps them to learn the job while they're actually working for the employer," said Susan Bosse, Director of Business and Workforce Development at CareerSource Florida.
According to Bosse, the new strategy for hiring long-term talent is apprenticeships. How an apprentice program works is a person can get on-the-job training with an employer while they're in school. They can learn the skills they need all while earning a paycheck.
"It helps them to hire people that don't have the skill-sets that they need to do the job successfully yet, but it helps them to develop those skills while they're working for the employer and also receiving that instruction," said Bosse.
Apprentice programs are on the rise in many fields like healthcare, information technology, manufacturing, and aviation and aerospace.
Something Bell said is key to getting those jobs filled in the future. "We're going to need a bigger workforce, a more skilled workforce," said Bell.
If interested in participating in an apprenticeship program, click here.
