Jobs training would be accomplished through career and technical education programs and apprenticeships
“It’s time to strengthen federal support to encourage more people to take advantage of CTE training; slashing vital funding for workforce development programs will only hurt our economy. I hear frequently from business owners how they have good paying jobs available but cannot find enough skilled labor to meet their needs; boosting federal funding to expand programs will be money wisely invested.”
Democratic Congressional candidate in NY-22, Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi of Utica, outlined his blueprint to strengthen Career and Technical Education training programs that are leading graduates to good-paying ‘middle skills’ jobs in the trades and skilled manufacturing.
“As I travel the district, I meet business owners in different fields that tell me they have an aging workforce and an increasing number of job openings but a lack of skilled applicants to fill vacancies,” Brindisi said. “They are looking for people with a high school diploma and training, but they do not require someone with a bachelor’s degree; unfortunately, for the 3.5 million manufacturing jobs expected to be available nationally over the next decade, two million will be left vacant if we don’t better address the skills gap.”
Brindisi says the staffing company Aerotek reported in October 2017 that trades job openings are now at a 10-year high nationally and that by 2020 there will be even more openings in these areas. For example, there are 80,000 people hired for maintenance positions in manufacturing every month, with a 4-percent increase projected in jobs by 2020; 41,000 electricians are being hired every month, and that number is expected to increase by 5 percent by 2020. The average salary for an industrial machinery mechanic in 2016 was $51,900, while electricians averaged $56,650—well above the average national salary.
In New York state, the National Skills Coalition recently estimates about half of the job openings over the next decade in the state will be in ‘middle skills’ jobs, but only 38 percent of the state’s workforce is trained to fill them.
After a two-year-long push by Brindisi, the state Board of Regents approved a new CTE Diploma in New York in October 2014 that provides an alternate pathway to graduation, including the opportunity for apprenticeships and certification in a skilled or technical field and the chance to earn college credits.
“At a time when opportunities in skilled trades and manufacturing are abundant, the federal government simply must not starve CTE programs of the funding they need to train tomorrow’s workers,” Brindisi said. “The proposed White House budget for 2018 would cut CTE program funding by 13 percent, eliminating $170 million from investing in our workforce, and also proposes slashing $92 million cut in Adult Education State Grants. I’m here to say we should be doing the opposite, and increase funding for these programs. I am pledging if elected to Congress, I will work on both sides of the aisle to put more investment in CTE, so we can replace retiring workers in the trades, now, and encourage more apprenticeship programs to train the next generation of our workforce.”
Brindisi says boosting federal funding will help CTE programs in New York and other states to better match training programs with the needs of state and local labor markets and will also encourage partnerships between schools and colleges and employers.
The jobs plan was unveiled today at The Plumber and Pipefitters Union Local 112 in Binghamton, a union Brindisi says is known for its strong training and apprenticeship programs in the skilled trades.