If you want to make big bucks, get yourself a trade. Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis addressed Ohio’s labor shortage at Thursday’s county commissioners’ meeting.
Davis says one roadblock to economic development in Ohio is the number of unemployable people. “You have people who don’t have any skills. And there’s those who want to just start out in a management position. It doesn’t work like that.”
Davis said he had one piece of advice for people entering the workforce, “Get a skill. If you’re in high school, get a skill. If you don’t want to go to college, go to trade school. Go to SCTC and get a skill so you can go straight into the labor pool.”
Davis said skilled trades are starving for workers right now. He said union halls are empty, and tradespeople are working. “They need apprentices in place. There’s some really good deals now in the union halls and labor.” He said non-union jobs are booming as well.
“There’s jobs out there, folks, for people who are willing to work hard.”
Davis said workforce development will be more important than ever in the development of the county. He advised adults without special skills that it was not too late to learn. “Go to college. Go to the trades. But go out there and get one. That’s the key to success in the future.”
Commissioner Scottie Powell said there’s a lot of funding out there for adults to develop new skills. “CAO has a lot of programs where they’ll put you through different training. There’s a lot of opportunity. People say there’s not jobs. There’s actually a lot.”
Powell said when people say they can’t find employment, he has to wonder if they’re looking hard enough or if their standards are too high.
