Focusing on employers, expanding regional convening paying dividends

Last year we launched our five-year strategic plan to position CareerSource Suncoast for ongoing success.

Success to us means that employers are able to hire qualified candidates to satisfy their demand and that job seekers have been developed to meet their needs.

To achieve this, it is crucial that we deliver demand-driven services to employers and that we also position our organization as the leader on workforce issues and continue to collaborate with regional organizations.

Two of our strategies in the plan reflect that: focus on employers and expand regional convening.

We chose to focus on these issues because it aligns with what other organizations are already taking action on, and we recognize that we can make a greater impact on the local workforce when we work together.

Our region’s unemployment rate is 4.7 percent, and while it has been moving in the right direction, it still leaves more than 16,000 unemployed residents in our area among a labor force of more than 348,000.

There are jobs out there, but a smaller pool of workers means the skills that employers demand are harder to come by. By focusing on employers and their needs, we can then work on developing job seekers to gain the skills they need to be successful.

The Suncoast region is already taking action and making an impact.

Manatee Technical College is a leader when it comes to innovative ways of ensuring its students meet the needs of local employers. Just last year, the school learned that a local employer was struggling to fill job openings because candidates did not have the skills needed to operate specific equipment.

MTC listened, purchased identical equipment and then trained its students to use it. As a result, the company hired those students upon graduation.

Job creation is not the issue. Skills creation is. Focusing on the employer allows us and the organizations in our community to determine the skills needed and develop job seekers to meet those needs.

Another strategy we are focusing on is expanding regional convening.

CareerSource Suncoast is a leader within the state for its innovative and leveraged outreach through partners such as our local economic development organizations, educational institutions (including Small Business Development Centers), professional and trade associations and community partners.

Every Wednesday we invite partners and employers to meet and discuss how we can work together to strengthen the local workforce. We look forward to expanding this even further when we host our first annual State of Talent Conference in May 2017, when we will bring employers together to discuss the challenges and successes with recruiting, training and retaining talent on the Suncoast.

Our organization’s success is the success of our region’s employers and job seekers. Our strategies allow us to focus on quickly and effectively responding to the needs of employers and placing job seekers in quality, fulfilling careers.

This story was originally published November 20, 2016 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Focusing on employers, expanding regional convening paying dividends."