CHAMBER

MetroWest Workforce Issues
MetroWest Chamber of Commerce June Board Meeting
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

This was the fourth of four panel discussions that the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce hosted. All four panel discussions were moderated by Helen Lemoine, Director of Leadership MetroWest.

Panel Participants:

1.      Maureen Dunne, MBA, MetroWest Economic Research Center @ Framingham State College

2.      Peter Dewar, Superintendent, J.P. Keefe Technical School

3.      James Stanton, Director of Technology Initiative, Metro South/West Regional Employment Board

4.      Nancy Morse, Chair of the MetroWest Alliance for Workforce Development

5.      Christine Taylor, Director, Framingham Adult ESL Plus.

Introduction (Helen Lemoine): “Today we have five exceptional leaders all working in different aspects of workforce development.  I think you are going to see an obvious theme of creating and sustaining the MetroWest workforce through collaborative initiatives and efforts from all of these folks we have here today.”

Panelists:

1.     Maureen Dunne

• Maureen is a Professor at Framingham State College and a founder of the MetroWest Economic Research Center (MERC). Her areas of expertise are regional economics and marketing. She has been a longtime activist in Framingham.

• The MetroWest Region in 2000 had a population of 183,000. We have about 104,000 high wage jobs located within the region.

• Labor Force – “Adults who are working or seeking work in the population.”

• Fastest growing segments from 1990 and 2000 were over 65 and under 18.

• The labor force (18-65) from 1990 – 2000 grew by only 2.9%.  The U.S. labor force on average grew by 13.5% during the same decade.

• Precipitous drops occurred in the 20 – 24 age group of 38% and the 24-30 age group of 19%.

• To offset these numbers though we have developed a very highly productive workforce.

• A major reason employers decide to locate in the area is the extremely high skilled work force.  

• “A majority of our employees have college degrees, and over a quarter have advanced degrees.”

• We need to preserve that competitive advantage. That’s where workforce development comes in.  That’s our edge. 

• Our Labor Force peaked in 1999 at 155,000 people; this year it is about 151,000. So our workforce has actually shrunk over the last five or six years.

• The reasons this has happened: 1) Recession – as adults lose their jobs they move out; 2) Massachusetts has an aging population; 3) Massachusetts is the only state in the nation that has actually lost population for the last two years.

• We need to retain employees we have here and recruit new ones into the area. 

• Nurture our labor force: MCAS, education reform, English as a Second Language, tuition benefits.

• Cost of living is high, but our biggest competitors also have high cost of living.

• This is especially critical for small and medium sized firms.  That’s the backbone of our entrepreneurial economy.

2.     Peter Dewar

• Peter has been an employee at Keefe Tech since 1979.

• Keefe Tech is a regional vocational school serving the towns of Framingham, Ashland, Holliston, Hopkinton and Natick.

• It is a secondary public school option for high school age students. They have to meet all the standards that every public school is held to.

• Keefe believes strongly in engaging its students in the “real” world, taking students outside the four walls of the school.

• “Students leave grade 12 and they are not ready to make that leap. They need engagement because it builds confidence.”

• We need to figure out more ways to get high school kids engaged. The high school initiative program Keefe is currently running does exactly that.  It pairs high school students up with companies that need interns. It’s a win-win for both sides.

• Students worked at Callahan Senior Center helping senior citizens with computer skills.

• A major problem currently facing schools is the recruitment of qualified teachers. “Try to find a plumber that wants to teach at a technical school for the money teachers are paid.”

• The school also has lost a significant number of students in the past year simply because their families could not afford to live in the MetroWest area.

• In response to a question, Peter explained the Chamber’s Education Initiative which is in its second year with events held at Keefe Tech to bring more businesses to the table.  The Initiative promotes internships, power lunches on specific career fields and business participation in career days at the middle school level.   The next forum will be held on September 28.  

3.     James Stanton

• Metro South/West Regional Employment Board (REB) encompasses 43 communities roughly between Routes 128 & I-495 and bounded by Route 2 in the north and I-95 in the south.

• There are three major initiatives for the REB.

1) Health Care Works: Works with major health care institutions in the MetroWest Area primarily to help grow and train applicants for entry level jobs in the health care field.

2) Youth Employment Initiative: Focuses primarily on youth at risk. Both youth in school and out of school in the 14 – 22 age range.

3) Technology Initiative: Massachusetts has an information and technology economy. There is a growing disconnect between the workforce needs of industry and what high school students are choosing as majors at the post secondary level.

• Fifteen percent of Massachusetts jobs require substantial STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) skills.  There are currently  9,700 STEM related vacancies in Massachusetts (4^th quarter 2005). 

• It is projected that in 2009 Massachusetts will experience a 24,000 STEM worker gap and this will create very substantial problems for our economy going forward.

• Between 2002 and 2012 STEM jobs will grow at three times the rate of all other jobs in the nation.  We are experiencing very substantial constraints on the STEM workforce.  The single biggest driver will be retirements. Between 2000 – 2005 the annual rate of retirement in the national workforce was 3.8%.  In 2010 that number jumps to 7.1%.  It is projected that 7.1% will continue for the next 12 years beyond 2010. (National Science Boards)

• From 1980 to 2001 the major contributor to the STEM workforce growth in this country were foreign nationals - people coming to this country for advanced education or on H1-B visa program.

• Since 9/11 things have changed dramatically. It is more difficult to get a visa to come to this country.

• There is a more competitive market with other countries attracting these students with scholarships and incentives.

• Companies that started 15 years ago with low skill jobs have now become major corporations competing for the labor supply that was coming to the US.

• There has been flat domestic STEM workforce growth for the past 20 years. We have not been able to get above 20% of our students even in Massachusetts.  From 2002 to 2005 there was a 12% drop from those who took the Math 1 SATs responding that they intend to major in STEM careers at the post secondary level.

• In order to fix the gap we must have 9,600 students graduating from Massachusetts high schools planning on entering STEM related fields.  Presently we have 4,000 choosing STEM.

• If we want to get these students into these fields we have to bring the real world to the students.  We must find ways to get teachers and students directly engaged in the real world STEM workforce.  Program:  1) Leadership Initiatives in Teaching and Technology to place teachers in companies. 2) Student internships in STEM companies.  

• In response to a question, Marty Cohen of the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation noted the Nurse Power Consortium which is focused on the recruitment and retention of nurses.  Nurse Power Clubs are formed at the Junior High level.  Framingham State College has a Master’s program for Nurse Educators.

• In response to a question, Jim noted the aging out of teachers.  At the middle school level, 30% are teaching out of subject in the math and science classes. 

4.     Nancy Morse

• MetroWest Alliance for Workforce Diversity (MAWD), an affiliate of the MetroWest Chamber, started about five years ago through conversations with community leaders and businesses that were having a tough time retaining employees in this area.

• MAWD is made up of several of the large corporations, as well as some small to medium size businesses, consultants and community leaders in the MetroWest Area.

• Some of the members are: TJX, Staples, Lifeline Systems, BJs, Bose, and SelectStaff just to name a few. Participation is open to all companies that are interested in bringing employees into the area and retaining those employees that they already have.

• A diverse work force is good for business.

• The organization meets on a monthly basis. Last month Monster.com came in and made a presentation on how more and more diverse employees are using the internet to seek job opportunities. This can give some insight into what diversity practices are effective in attracting employees.

• In a study 50% of diverse workers felt it was beneficial to be listed as a member of the diverse population and 50% felt it was better to remain anonymous.

• TJX published a Resource Guide for the region which is being widely distributed as a recruiting and retention tool.

MAWD’s Mission: Provide a resource for organizations committed to strengthening their diversity practices in order to:

• Serve as a resource for internal departments by sharing best practices and providing opportunities for mentoring and coaching from fellow professionals.

• Increase “acceptance” rate of potential, diversity candidates for participating employers.

• Accelerate assimilation into the community for the employee and family members.

• Increase retention of employees by increasing satisfaction with community and cultural resources in the MetroWest area.

5.     Christine Taylor

• Christine is director of the Framingham English as a Second Language ^PLUS (ESL^PLUS) program for the Framingham Public Schools.

• In 1984 Christine was hired by a small group of town meeting members to teach an adult ESL class for a program they wanted to start and 22 years later she is still working at what is now known as the Framingham Adult ESL^plus.

• There were evening classes in Framingham for English as early as 1836. The first adult ESL classes were offered in Framingham in 1887.

• In the 1920’s there was even a waiting list to get into the classes.

• The support from the business community has been phenomenal.

• The MetroWest ESL Fundraising Committee supports six classes. That’s 120 students each year that don’t have to be turned away.

• ESL serves 630 students each semester. There are currently 700 individuals on the waiting list. The program actually moved towards a lottery style system because it is so competitive to get into one of these classes.

• The Citizenship Program is bursting at the seams.  It provides Adult Basic Education and GED programs as well.

• The program has graduate degree students who only lack English skills in order be excellent employees.

• Framingham ESL^PLUS is the only program in the state that has a student sponsored class with a fundraising dance. 

• Anyone that says immigrants don’t want to learn English is wrong; non English speakers desperately want to learn English but there are just not enough places for them to go.