University presidents cite ways to address workforce needs

By Brice Wallace 

Flexibility. Inclusion. Connections. Creativity.

Those characteristics are often cited as necessary for any business to be successful. They also were recently cited as necessary for Utah’s education system to better address the workforce needs of Utah businesses. 

Panelists — five university presidents, all women — at the recent Education & Workforce Forum in Sandy said their institutions need to find more ways to meet the labor needs of Utah companies in order to have more-prosperous communities in the state.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

At the forum, hosted by the Salt Lake Chamber and the Women’s Leadership Institute, Beth Dobkin of Westminster College stressed the importance of building partnerships between business and education. While internships are important, “we need to also learn about what the workforce needs are and incorporate them into our curriculum,” she said. “As we do that, we will create students that are better prepared to manage and lead in an environment that continually changes.”

Ruth Watkins of the University of Utah said that during her travels throughout the state this summer she learned that “the state needs more graduates.”

“We have to get people through their degrees in a more-timely manner, so timely college completion meets the needs of our industry,” Watkins said. “But that isn’t going to do it alone. I also learned from many of our big industries that if we don’t produce a more-diverse workforce, they will not stay with us. They are selling products around the world, they’re working in very diverse environments. They want graduates that come from different backgrounds, that speak different languages, that represent different cultures. We must work on that.”

The building certain types of skills also needs to be incorporated into curricula, she and others said.

“What I heard everywhere was, ‘Yes, we need more engineers and scientists, but we need engineers and scientists who can think, talk, work with other people,’” she said. “That ability to work in teams with people from different backgrounds is absolutely vital.”

Deneece Huftalin of Salt Lake Community College was among those calling for improvements in what is often called “soft skills.”

“I am so weary right now about people’s inability to connect with one another, especially those that are different from them,” she said. “And I think that is the biggest hurdle we have to figure out: how to listen; how to communicate; how to respect another opinion; how to challenge, gracefully, biased or cruel thinking.

“And I think we have to be kind. I just think we have to be kind if we’re going to be smart and have the right skills and then prosper as a community. We have to have a collective kindness rather than an individual digging-in.”

Huftalin said SLCC is providing many ways for students to be trained — short- and long-term training, credit and noncredit training, certificates and degrees —  “so there’s a flexibility to accommodate business and industry and what they need.”

Astrid Tuminez of Utah Valley University called for stronger partnerships between education and industry and the community. She was among presidents who called for more cross-discipline education — “I think all our automotive students should have a class in poetry; I think that would be great” — as a way of boosting diversity of thought and expertise.

Watkins also said that all areas of Utah need access to educational opportunities. “As I traveled around, I learned that the prosperity we’re enjoying where I live is not shared everywhere, and that the need for us to engage in new and creative workforce training programs in different environments is very urgent,” she said.

While Utah has been grappling with a shortage of skilled workers for several years, Noelle Cockett of Utah State University spoke about the long-term future of the state’s workforce. She quoted a statistic indicating that 42 percent of today’s jobs will no longer exist in the year 2032.

“When I first heard that … I thought, ‘Gosh, where are all of these people going to get jobs?’” Cockett said.

She said Mike Glauser, director of USU’s Center for Entrepreneurship, told her that the key will be to push entrepreneurship.

“I think this entrepreneurship spirit is incredibly strong in Utah. I’ve seen this with our students,” said Cockett, adding that 40 percent of USU students want to have their own business.

“And that’s the upcoming generation of people that we have in front of us. In my generation, I wouldn’t leave a job unless I knew what I was going to do in the next step. This generation wants to be their own boss. So I think for Utah, we really need to stoke this spirit of entrepreneurship through students that are coming into college or even leaving into the workforce after some career technology education, getting them the tools to create that business opportunity that they can do in the community they want to live in, whether it’s along the Wasatch Front or the most remote corners of Utah.”

Dobkin said a prosperous economy will require educational institutions to “build a workforce that is flexible and adaptive.”

“We are in a time now where we have jobs that are yet to be created, we have problems we can’t yet imagine, and, of course, technologies yet to be invented,” she said. “So, you put those things together and we really need to create the kind of workforce that is adaptive and flexible and can step into leadership roles.”

Derek Miller, the Salt Lake Chamber’s president and CEO, said Utah’s workforce issues must advance from talking about the problem “to take action to create partnerships and to find solutions.” He urged business leaders to “come to the table and be part of the solution” by developing ways “that you can engage to build a stronger talent pipeline that makes sense for your company.”

For example, he said, business leaders could present industry perspectives to a college advisory board, create internship opportunities or connect with their local tech college or university.

Results of a quarterly chamber survey of business executives in the state reveal consistently “that businesses share a common concern about the impact of a labor shortage on their companies,” Miller said.

“It is the single greatest challenge and the single greatest threat to our continued economic and business growth.”{/mprestriction}