The study reveals the needs and barriers of the workforce | News, Sports, Employment

HOWLAND — The results of a study conducted to examine the region’s workforce needs and barriers to employment confirmed what many already knew, and now is the time to develop strategies to overcome those obstacles.

Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries and the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber collaborated earlier this year on a community needs assessment aimed at job seekers and business owners.

“We had two questions we wanted to answer. The first was, where are there people who are not currently working that we can help and bring them into the workforce, where are they?” Shelley Murray, executive director of Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries, said. “The second question was, what are the obstacles in the community and the barriers they face that prevent them from entering the workforce? Two simple questions that really guided this process.”

Murray provided an overview and findings of the assessment Friday at the regional chamber’s 2024 Public Policy Conference at The Grand Resort in Howland.

Guy Coviello, President/CEO of the regional chamber said, “As the chamber and our partners work to create an environment in our region for sustainable economic success, it is critical that we understand the real barriers that exist. It is our responsibility as a community to work to address these challenges and create meaningful opportunities for valley residents.”

THE REPORT

The evaluation began with the collection of demographic data and included information gathered from a community perception survey conducted July 15-August 19, as well as findings from focus groups. Some common themes were revealed.

Forty-five percent of respondents identified alcohol and drug use as the community’s top problem, followed by poverty at 42%; affordable housing / homelessness, 40%; transport, 27%; and unemployment, 26%.

Transportation/public transportation was the No. 1 response to workforce development challenges, 42%, followed by life skills training, 35%; living wage / economic barriers, 35%; day care, 33%; and affordable housing, 23%.

Focus groups (from a broad spectrum of stakeholders that included service providers, education/training providers, funders, businesses, jobseekers and coalitions) were further explored.

Nearly 94% reported that transportation was the biggest workforce development challenge. Next was childcare, followed by mental health, substance abuse, housing, food insecurity, education and accessible training/skills.

The most challenged populations were found to be justice affected, minorities, 16-24 year olds, people in recovery, single parents, physically disabled and intellectually disabled.

The assessment revealed that the two most in-demand job skills were interdisciplinary skills and digital literacy. Other required job skills were in health training and logistics and supply chain.

“A lot of times, a phone, a cell phone is the only computer someone is operating with, so they don’t work with a mouse. Filling out a job application can often be very difficult on a cell phone, so the ‘digital literacy is something we need to pay attention to’. Murray said.

Social skills identified were communication, adaptability, critical thinking, time management, financial literacy, customer service and teamwork/collaboration.

During his review, Murray recounted two stories he heard recently: one involving a person in their car that broke down and another involving a person in their car that ran out of gas. Neither had enough money to repair the vehicle or put fuel in the tank, so they both stopped going to work, he said.

“They are very simple, but for someone who feels very overwhelmed in their day-to-day life, these can be a challenge that is very difficult for them to overcome, and so when we start thinking in these terms, we have to start thinking about ‘another way on how we are going to involve the workforce’. Murray said.

WHAT’S NEXT

Now with the data, the following, in collaboration with local businesses, government officials and community organizations, is threefold:

• Identify workforce development programs and agency/organization support programs in the community.

• Identify opportunities to support workforce development programs and services to meet the needs of job seekers and businesses.

• Create a plan to reduce the main barriers to unemployment.

To guide the future and execute on the findings of the evaluations, Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries plans to hire a Director of Community Solutions to manage the next steps, from facilitating collaboration among stakeholders to coordinating committees and ensuring that the project fulfills its objectives.

Funding for the position is a grant from the Youngstown Foundation.

OTHER INTERESTING DATA

Murray in his 25-minute presentation unloaded a wealth of powerful economic and demographic data for the region, including strengths, needs and challenges.

• Strengths

The region has seen unemployment decline, and average annual wages per worker have risen a little more than 3 percent in the region over the past four quarters, he said. In addition, the labor market has strengthened over the past 10 years and the cost of living in the region is approximately 6% below the national average.

In the job market, job openings are up more than 1% from year-end and the first quarter of 2024, and most open jobs require zero to five years of experience. “So there are jobs out there…that are available,” Murray said.

Additionally, most job postings list a high school diploma or equivalent as a minimum education level, and there are other opportunities to obtain qualified individuals through short-term certifications in areas including first aid, basic life support, paramedic of certified nursing, licensed practice. nurse and commercial truck driving.

Meanwhile, the fastest growing occupation over the next 10 years is health care and social care. The strongest forecast by number of jobs is business and enterprise management, mining and quarrying, oil and gas extraction, and information.

• Challenges

For most job postings in the region now, the average hourly wage is $16.65 per hour, or $34,632 per year at full time.

“I want to put this into perspective from the federal poverty guidelines. A family of four with one working adult, the poverty level for that family is $31,200, which is much less than our median hourly wage that is available now.” Murray said.

“That same family with two adults, one worker and two kids, a living wage…to make it for the same family, they would have to make $35.83 an hour, so you can see the disparity between what is available and what is necessary for them to have this quality of life.” Murray said.

• Needs

Here, the region has had a declining and aging population. Also, no further education beyond a high school diploma; more people than the state and national average; people earn less money; more people receive food assistance than the state or national average; and fewer people work here than the state and national average. The state and national average is 63% and the local average is 57%.

Full report

Go to goodwillyoungstown.org/cna to read the full community needs assessment.