Workforce Development Roundtable: Strategic Partnerships for Worker Training

Workforce Development

Robust partnerships deliver hope in the quest to enhance New Jersey workers’ skills.

On Aug 2, 2024

New Jersey Business Magazine, in conjunction with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, recently held a virtual roundtable discussion exploring the challenges and solutions concerning the state’s workforce shortage. As we emerge from the “Great Resignation” that was sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, we find ourselves in a whirlwind of fast-paced technological change that is making it difficult for companies to find workers with the current skills they need. Additionally, businesses are coping with a younger generation of workers whose work ethic is different from millennials and retiring baby boomers. These and other workforce issues are being resolved by the growing partnerships between business, academia and government that are trying their best to strengthen New Jersey’s labor force.

Meet our 5 Panelists

Michele Siekerka 

Siekerka is president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. Founded in 1910 as the New Jersey Manufacturers Association, NJBIA works closely with various organizations to support workforce training in New Jersey. Siekerka also sits on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers and is vice chair of the Conference of State Manufacturers Associations.

Peter Connolly

Connolly is center director and CEO of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program. He joined NJMEP as COO in 2022, but served as an NJMEP board member for 14 years. Prior to 2022, he was president of Mahwah-based aviation firm Shock Tech, Inc. He began his career at DRS, where he held key management positions including vice president of business development and vice president/general manager. 

Dr. Merodie A. Hancock

Hancock is president of Thomas Edison State University. Prior to this, she served as president of State University of New York Empire State College. She served as vice president at Central Michigan University Global Campus and held administrative leadership and teaching positions at the University of Maryland Global College and Embry-Riddle. Hancock is on the board of directors of the New Jersey Presidents’ Council.

Dr. Stephanie Hoopes 

Hoopes is the national director, United for ALICE, at United Way of Northern New Jersey. She has a doctorate degree from the London School of Economics and has developed the ALICE (Asset, Limited, Income, Constrained, Employed) measures while at Rutgers University-Newark. United for ALICE works with partners across the county to inform on policy. Dr. Hoopes’ research has garnered the attention of national media. 

Catherine Frugé Starghill, Esq. 

Starghill is the vice president of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges (NJCCC) and executive director of the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development. She leads a coalition of more than 1,800 industry and education partners of the New Jersey Pathways to Career Opportunities initiative, aligning education to the needs of the workforce to build a stronger state economy.

We hear so much about workforce skills gaps today. Why are they prevalent?

Starghill: There are many different reasons, including the aging workforce and the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We just went through a cycle in which there were – at the height of the pandemic – probably more individuals leaving the workplace than joining it. 

Connolly: It’s an aging workforce. The average age of the manufacturing worker is 49. The demographic of 50- to 64-year-olds is declining, and we’re not seeing younger generations coming in. It’s tough to get [young] people to interview: If you do schedule an interview, you’re lucky if someone shows up. If you do hire someone, you’re lucky if they show up to work. If they show up, [they work] a half day and then go home. It’s a different workforce.

Hancock: What we’re also seeing is that the half-life of knowledge has become very short. It used to be that the half-life was about 10 years. Now we’ve moved it down to a couple of years at best … certainly IT is pushing it. The knowledge that employers want is changing quickly. Nothing says that more than AI right now. We keep hearing about neat AI programs, but the AI programs that [higher ed is] developing today … will be outdated by the time [people enter the workforce]. 

Meanwhile, employers are saying they’re not even sure what they’re looking for. Things are changing so quickly that by the time they hire somebody, the skill set may be moving. Ironically, it takes us back to having people who can “learn to learn”: Learn to think in fuzzy ways, outside the box, and pull pieces together … to learn to find resources and figure out what you don’t know, learn it quickly, and bring it to the job. 

Siekerka: The key is making sure we’ve got a good foundation set in our next generation of workers, so that they know how to pivot and stay ahead of their own learning in order to be successful. 

Connolly: Companies are also having a tough time dealing with a transitory workforce. You train somebody and soon they’re going somewhere else. Companies don’t know how to deal with that. 

Hoopes: We’ve been tracking United for ALICE (Asset Limited, Income, Constrained, Employed) workers in New Jersey and across the country and seeing a high unemployment rate of 17% for them. There is a mismatch between these folks who want to work and people being able to hire them. Some of it may be due to [accessing] education and training. A lot of education and training has shifted from the company to the workers, and this is a real challenge for ALICE workers. Back in the day, companies had training programs. There were ways where you could start at the entry level and work your way up. [Now], the worker has to incur the risk of quitting their job, going back to school to acquire training, pay for that training, and then take on the risk of finding a job that matches that training.

Amid these challenges, what is your organization/institution doing to train the workforce? 

Starghill: At the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development and at community colleges in general, we see more undergraduate and adult learners than all other colleges in the state. Besides the academic programs that we have, which can lead to an associate’s degree, we also have robust workforce development training curricula across all 18 of our community colleges. So, we are the largest workforce development trainer in the state.

We are training adult workers through many different programs, including one in which we have partnered with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) on the Workplace Literacy and Basic Skills Training Program, which is for incumbent workers. Any employer can contact a community college or us here at the consortium and schedule a skills training course.

The Pathways to Career Opportunities is another initiative started through a partnership between the community colleges and NJBIA. We have broken down silos across education sectors. So, high schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, labor unions, community-based training providers, NJMEP, and professional career schools are all working together to connect all the training and education that anyone in the state can obtain, leading to more advanced credentials and degrees. 

NJBIA, NJMEP and the community colleges are also in the midst of a New Jersey Manufacturing Skills Initiative in which we’re training 250 participants in manufacturing. Of the 250 participants, we are going to place 125 into jobs, and I think we have 25 apprentices already employed.

Additionally, we are engaged with the Workforce Development Boards and the Garden State Employment and Training Association (which is the professional association of the Workforce Development Boards). So, workforce development is certainly what we do … we touch it all at many different angles.

How is United for ALICE reaching out to businesses and institutions of higher ed in order for these groups to help people in low-income communities?

Hoopes: First, we are working with 38 childcare providers – most of them are small family businesses working from their homes. Our goal is to move them along a continuum from just cobbling it together to having a sustainable business. Some need basic computer skills. Most need budget training and strategic planning skills. It has shown us how hard it is for someone to get the training course at a community college. We are [putting] that training together in the evenings, or during lunch – whenever we can fit it in – to meet [workers] where they are and keep them moving. 

The second thing is a pilot program called ALICE at Work. It’s helping businesses become better employers, especially for their ALICE employees, because the No.1 complaint we hear from ALICE workers is that they can’t find a good paying job in order to pay their bills and have career opportunities. So, [we are] working with employers and saying, “Hey, if you want to attract good talent and you want to retain that talent, there are some [best] practices that have been tried and true that work.” We’re getting a nice response to that. We’ve had a number of New Jersey corporations participate in the pilot, so hopefully we’ll be rolling that out in a bigger way next year. 

The third thing we do is [provide] research [and data]. Visit www.unitedforalice.org and look at the economic viability dashboard as well as the labor tab on the New Jersey site. You can find things like ALICE workers’ age, their education attainment, what sector they’re working in, what their commute time is, are they looking for jobs with a disability, do they have kids at home? [These are] some of the considerations employers might want to consider. 

How do we ensure that the general population has access to these opportunities? 

Connolly: Under the recently passed Manufacturing and Higher Education Act, the New Jersey Business Action Center (BAC) is developing a coordinated website that will include NJBIA, NJMEP, BAC, and Small Business Development Centers. It will be one place where students, veterans, and unemployed workers can access information. 

Siekerka: FOCUS NJ, which is the research affiliate of NJBIA, has established a website where individuals could go and, if they’re interested in a particular type of career path, see who’s offering the opportunities to get them on their way. Focus NJ has been gathering workforce development opportunities from across the state – where they take place, and what they specifically entail. We invite all our educational, public- and private-sector partners to input their information right on the website. 

Is the state doing enough today to support workforce development initiatives?

Starghill: While Gov. Murphy has grown the number of apprenticeships during his tenure, there must be a comprehensive strategy toward apprenticeships with a marketing campaign. However, there’s never or rarely any state money put toward marketing apprenticeships or workforce training. I don’t think that would be a heavy lift. There are other states that have a comprehensive state policy and funding [mechanism]. Maybe they are a little ahead of us with regards to apprenticeships. We could easily have the knowledge base, the expertise and certainly the desire [in New Jersey].

I bet some of my colleagues at the Department of Labor, and even in the Governor’s Office, would say we do have a state strategy. However, if all the stakeholders are not completely aware of what that strategy is, that’s a problem.

For years, I’ve heard discussions about improving the relationship between business, government, and academia. Are today’s efforts any different than what has been done in the past? Are you optimistic?

Siekerka: I’m optimistic. We have unprecedented collaborations. We’ve built the relationships, the stakeholder community, we’ve brought resources to bear. We keep the momentum and the energy going, and we’ve slowly been herding the cats into one place. We are in an incredibly better place than we were 10 years ago, when I came into my position.

Hoopes: I’m encouraged by this conversation. I love what I’m hearing that colleges are going into the workplace, and that employers are recognizing they need help with training. They can’t put it all on the worker. That’s the kind of thing that’s going to make a difference. 

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