By Andy Johnson, Special Projects Coordinator – Leon County
This year, one of FCCMA’s priority focus areas is preparing the next generation of local government professionals. But what about the next generation of the broader workforce in our communities? There are some interesting trends in this arena that parallel some of the recent discussions we’ve had about millennials in local government. Let’s dig in:
Over the past several years, the emerging “information economy” has produced employment growth in highly technical and professional jobs and also in low-skill service sector and agricultural jobs. At the same time, younger individuals are trending toward four-year or postgraduate educational paths. Students are seeking higher educational attainment, which corresponds to current trends in workforce demand. Also, many students simply stayed in college during the Great Recession because there weren’t many quality job openings at the time. This all makes sense so far, right?
As legendary college football analyst and fellow FSU alum Lee Corso would say: “Not so fast, my friend.”
As a nation, we’re leaving a huge component of the workforce out of the education discussion. About half (!) of the current and projected future workforce demand is for middle-skill occupations (those jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree). These are jobs that your local community colleges and technical centers train for – nurses, welders, electricians, truck drivers, chefs, software developers, and more. But with the rising trend of young folks who are seeking bachelor’s, master’s, Ph. D degrees, and professional degrees, the demand for middle-skills workers is and will remain strong relative to the available supply.
Now let’s tie this back in to the local government world. This is an issue that affects all of us, throughout our communities – in Leon County for example, we found that 35 of the 50 fastest-growing occupations projected for our tri-county area by 2022 (representing 10,000 new jobs) are in the middle-skill category. And while we’re not the school system, we’re not the community colleges, we’re not the workforce development folks; we ARE community conveners – catalysts for growth and innovation. I’m pleased to share what Leon County recently did to address this issue.
On October 23, Leon County hosted the Leon Works Expo, connecting over 300 local high school students and over 200 more job seekers in the community with academic institutions, businesses, nonprofits, and government partners. Fundamentally, this event was about raising awareness of middle skill jobs – not only that they are available and in-demand locally, but also that they’re great careers, they pay well, and there are academic programs available locally that offer skills training and job placement assistance.
The Leon Works Expo started as an item on the Board’s strategic planning retreat agenda and led to a collaborative effort with our local school system, academic partners, CareerSource, Chamber of Commerce, and other stakeholders. At the Expo, local high school students had the opportunity to interact directly with over 80 exhibitors and talk to business professionals about their education and career path. The students saw outdoor demonstrations hosted by the County’s EMS crew, the Sheriff, City Utilities, local academic programs like welding and 3-D printing, and more. Also, the Expo featured workshops designed to show students the importance of “soft skills” like timeliness, personal responsibility, and what it means to be a professional. The afternoon portion of the Expo was open to the public and featured most of the same opportunities, but also included mock interview practice sessions and professional headshot photos for LinkedIn profiles.
The Leon Works Expo was a tremendous success that’s still buzzing throughout the community nearly a month later. While the Board will decide which direction the Leon Works initiative goes in the future, the Expo went a long way in starting an important community conversation and building connections to develop and sustain a rich local economy filled with workers who choose to define their own success.
For more information about this event, check out the Leon Works website at www.LeonWorksExpo.com.
