Virginia high schools recently held graduation celebrations to recognize the well deserved academic achievers and their fellow graduates, who earned scholarships and will be going onto post-secondary education opportunities. Why not also afford the same recognition to the skilled career-ready citizens who have been given job offers for their mastery of the “employable skills” needed and wanted by employers in the community?
Virginia has a robust business environment and was ranked the No. 2 state for business by CNBC in 2023. Virginia is home to a thriving small business ecosystem, with 99.5% of all Virginia’s businesses falling into this category. Half of Virginia’s workforce is employed by small businesses.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports as of August, Virginia’s current labor market had not yet fully recovered from the pandemic, but was displaying signs of improvement. Virginia is grappling with a workforce shortage, evident by the fact that there are only 47 available workers for every 100 open job positions in the state.
While 92% of Virginia’s population has obtained their high school diploma or its equivalent, 42.2% of the population have earned a bachelor’s degree and 18.6% have secured a graduate degree, both above the national averages. Between 2020 and 2030, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that about 60% of new jobs in the economy will be in occupations that don’t typically require an associate, bachelor’s or graduate degree. So why are Virginia graduates not filling the substantial number of good paying careers that require employable skills, not just academic credentials and degrees?
Gov. Glenn Youngkin joined the growing number of states and private employers who are adopting skills-based hiring practices. The commonwealth will change its hiring practices by eliminating degree requirements, preferences or both for almost 90% of state classified positions to extend opportunities to all Virginians. Skills-based hiring is incredibly important because it helps level the playing field. Organizations can equitably assess candidates based on what they can do, as opposed to what is historically shown to have been done.
Now is the time to recommit Virginia to expanding new-collar career pathways opportunities in our schools by providing new graduates with ladders into the middle class through apprenticeships and other career and technical education (CTE) skills-based programs. Schools are collaborating with local businesses to provide CTE high-quality work-based learning (HQWBL) opportunities for students to focus on the different types of methods of instructional preparation and take place in partnership with local businesses or organizations in a real-world work environment.
The schools, in partnership with local businesses, are offering learning opportunities which include job shadowing, service learning, mentorships, externships, school-based enterprises, internships, entrepreneurship, clinical experience, cooperative education, youth-registered apprenticeships and registered apprenticeships. Virginia has regulations and guidelines for the administration of CTE HQWBL and provides resources for work-based learning coordinators. School divisions should use this guide to implement CTE HQWBL offerings locally.
The good news is our region is sending some of our most skilled, career-ready students to take part in the SkillsUSA Championships, the premier showcase of America’s most highly skilled career and technical education students. Held in conjunction with SkillsUSA’s National Leadership & Skills Conference each June, this awe-inspiring event features more than 6,000 state champions from across the United States competing head-to-head in 115 skilled and leadership competitions.
Virginia is graduating skilled, career-ready, new-collar professionals who are choosing good paying vocational and technical careers over degrees. They are stepping up to fill important jobs that keep America safe and the economy running.
Glenn Marshall of Williamsburg serves on the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Management Team, leads an initiative for an Educational Renaissance by graduating skilled career-ready citizens. He is a member of the Reshoring Initiative, Job Creators Network and Industry Reimagined 2030. Email him at marsh8279@aol.com. Learn more at ame.org.
