OPPORTUNITIES ARE ACCELERATING
May 11, 2015
I was encouraged last week to discover an article in the OMAHA WORLD-HERALD by Janice Podsada, “Community Colleges, Local Unions Offer Apprenticeships, Programs to Train for Jobs Increasingly in Demand.” Here’s an excerpt:
“ . . . The demand for skilled tradespeople — from plumbers to electricians to diesel mechanics to auto mechanics and welders — is on the rise. An older generation of skilled workers is retiring and, locally, construction is booming. Contractors, manufacturers and repair shops are recruiting but can’t fill all the vacancies requiring certain skills.
Mechanical aptitude, the ability to work with one’s hands, is winning new respect and bigger paychecks. . . .
The skilled trades ‘have been looked upon as a second-class career. In fact, it’s a great living. You can say, ‘I built that bridge, that car, that building,’ said Ahrends (Kirk Ahrends, dean of applied technology at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha), who constructed cement bridges in his youth.
‘I still drive over those bridges to make sure they’re still up.’ ”
We can also find a growing emphasis on training within our Process and Manufacturing industries. Maintenance and Operations training for our workforce has never been more necessary.
And, the opportunities for more effective learning have never been greater. Due to advances in technology-based learning, Mechanical Maintenance, Electrical Maintenance, and Instrumentation training are all better attuned to job and task applicability today.
We’re going to need these better skills, too, as processes get more complicated and multi-craft training continues to evolve. Well-designed multiple-media training will help secure incomes in these transitional economic times while improving conditions for workers and their families.
In the process, American industry will sharpen its competitive edge.
— Bill Walton, co-Founder ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Mondays & Wednesdays)
“ THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN ”