What's On The Horizon for Central Ohio's Workforce

Central Ohio’s workforce has certainly changed over the past few years. The shortage of workers is not a new phenomenon but has certainly grown to a critical level. The issues in our economy and workforce are usually the top headline.

In this episode, we have lots to discuss with Kelly Fuller, Vice President of Talent and Workforce Development for the Columbus (OH) Chamber of Commerce.

The economy is trying to move forward. Ohio has many new projects going on, such as the INTEL project, bringing hundreds of jobs to this area. Things have certainly changed. We look very different than we did two years ago.

Thousands have left the workforce without a clear plan to return.

For instance, we are approaching 2 million older adults who have left the workforce, retired early, or given up on finding a safe place to work. Moms are unable to secure affordable childcare. And our young folks are having difficulty managing their school life with work life. Employers are tearing their hair out in recruiting efforts. What can be done?

A different view on recruiting challenges revolves around the need for employment in the immigrant communities in Central Ohio. We have a skilled and talented applicant pool, but it seems that “red tape” is getting in the way, language barriers exist, educational attainment may not be clear, or there is bias in the workplace.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and workforce employment.

Minority and women-owned businesses struggle with funding, resources, and discovering mentoring opportunities. Kelly talks about how the Chamber delves into this arena and offers advice to these small business owners.

It would seem older employees can learn just as much from their younger colleagues as the younger can learn from older members of the team. How do we manage these 3-4-5 generations of workers in the same room? And most importantly, how do we recruit and retain talented individuals, providing an age-bias-free environment?

There are programs, services, and funding that provides skills training to current employers.