EDSR INFORMATION #5 08-13-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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s Businesses indicated that their employees would COMPARISON TO NAM RESULTS need more training in computer skills (50 percent Minnesota manufacturers appear to face a much of respondents), process improvement(45 percent), tighter labor market for qualified workers than their technical skills (43 percent) and problem solving counterparts nationwide, with larger shares of them skills (40 percent) over the next three years. reporting moderate to serious shortages across most s Community and technical schools provided the occupational groups. most effective education and training, according to s Among Minnesota respondents, a high-performance 61 percent of respondents, particularly for training workforce (67 percent) continued to be the principal students in skills for business needs. factor for business success, followed by product innovation (46 percent). Their national counterparts, COLLABORATION WITH EDUCATION however, rated product innovation as the most s Slightly more than half of respondents had important factor, ahead of a high-performance previously collaborated with the education system workforce (2009 NAM survey). . to deal with workforce issues, for example through • Minnesota respondents were much less likely job fairs, internships or contributions of space or to collaborate with the education system than equipment. Large employers were much more likely respondents to the nationwide NAM study to have had such collaborations. s Regional differences in business collaboration with FINAL THOUGHTS educational institutions were striking. Northwest Overall, these survey results present both a significant businesses had the highest rate (70 percent) of challenge and a substantial opportunity for the State of collaborations. Respondents in the Twin Cities (44 Minnesota, local governments, the education system percent) and Northeast(50 percent) were least likely to have had collaborations compared to other and other service providers to align and prioritize areas. services and support to Minnesota manufacturers. Because results sometimes varied by geographic location and size of business, workforce development GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT professionals and training providers could customize +► About two-thirds of respondents believed that their approaches and services to better meet the the State of Minnesota should have moderate or needs of their clients. significant involvement in assisting manufacturers to attract and retain a highly effective workforce. FULL REPORT AND APPENDICES This was more likely true for large and medium AVAILABLE ONLINE AT: businesses, and businesses in Southeast, Southwest and Northwest www.PositivelyMinnesota.com/, search "skills gap". s The preferred forms of support were tax relief for companies that offer training (41 percent) and METHODOLOGY NOTES funding for employee training at companies A stratified random sample of 2,400 Minnesota manufacturing (37 percent). businesses across four size groups received the survey in electronic or paper format,or in some cases,both.The survey SIZE DIFFERENCES yielded 511 respondents(for a response rate of 23.9 percent excluding non-deliverable addresses)for the 2011 survey. s Large and medium-sized companies tended to Overall,the survey has a confidence interval of+/-4.1 percent, experience a greater impact of workforce shortages at a level of confidence of 95 percent.Business size groups were: and use a greater variety of tactics to address such very small(5-19 employess);small(20-74 employees);medium shortages, than small companies and very small (75-249 employees)and large(250 or more employees). companies. Large and medium-sized companies had greater financial capacity for providing training and POSITIVELY collaborated with educational institutions to a greater degree to meet workforce and training needs. ?il Department of Employment and Economic Development • The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development(DEED)is the state's principal economic development agency, with programs promoting business recruitment,expansion,and retention;workforce development;international trade;and community development.The agency's mission is to support the economic success of individuals,businesses,and communities by improving opportunities for growth.For more information,go to wwwPositivelyMinnesota.com.