Iowa's Employment Problem: Too Many Jobs, Not Enough People

[steve2470]

Last edited Mon Apr 2, 2018, 11:21 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/iowas-employment-problem-too-many-jobs-not-enough-people-1522580400

MASON CITY, Iowa—Manufacturers in northern Iowa are begging Terry Schumaker for freshly trained workers for their factories. The problem is he doesn’t have enough students to train.

“It’s not like we have the people beating down our door to apply,” said Mr. Schumaker, a dean at the North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City.

It is a problem playing out in many parts of the Midwest, a region with lower unemployment and higher job-opening rates than the rest of the country. Employers, especially in more rural areas, are finding that there are just too few workers. That upends a long-running view in Washington, D.C., and many state capitals, where policy makers often say the unemployed simply lack the skills to get hired.

Mr. Schumaker said Iowa has plenty of free programs to train workers. And Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is poised to sign Tuesday legislation that would provide an estimated $18 million for worker-training programs. But shrinking high-school classes leave fewer potential trainees.

[still_one]

1. Maybe the issue is that Iowa has gone from a blue to purple-red state, that maybe young folks are

moving out of the state

[Girard442]

2. Can't read article, behind a paywall, but...

...in my experience, every article that talks about a labor shortage is a lie.

[Squinch]

3. But, but, aren't they all economically oppressed in Iowa??!? Isn't that why they went for Trump??!?1

Isn't that why we need to learn to understand their poor souls and accept them when they are racist and sexist??8!?

[tazkcmo]

4. How much do they pay?

Benefits? Cost of living? School quality? Recreational opportunities? Attitudes of local population in terms of tolerance? Weather?

A whole bunch of factors effect a person's decision to take a job or move.

[safeinOhio]

5. No problem, trump is working on it.

All those bankrupt farmers are going to need jobs next year.