Following the pandemic and the subsequent Great Resignation, the skills gap is as wide as it was last year (and only widening) as employers seek skill sets that much of the workforce lacks or will lack. If something doesnât change in how we equip our next workforce generation with marketable skills in manufacturing and tech/IT careers, experts predict that by 2030 the talent shortage is expected to total aâŊloss of $8.5 trillion in the US alone. Three industries, in particular, have seen tremendous growth in recent years and are facing high demand for workforce-ready talent: cybersecurity, aerospace, and the skilled trades.
1. Cybersecurity
The past year has seen an alarming spike in cyberattacks, with ransomware attacks alone accounting for 623.3 million attacks worldwide, according to the widely referenced SonicWall yearly cyber threat report. As their headline for 2022âs report states, âOur future will increasingly belong to the proactive,â so cybersecurity is a field in which no one in the US can afford to fall behind; itâs not even enough to stay current anymore.
Cybersecurity thought leader Chuck Brooks expresses in a January Forbes article that âcyber perils are the biggest concern for companies globally in 2022.â This pervasive concern means that cybersecurity professionals are in demand in every single industry across the nation. Unfortunately, though, the demand is not being met. A key witness to this cybersecurity skills gap around the country is the president and vice chairman for Microsoft, who recounts in his article from last fall, âAs one person put it, âEvery small business and start-up I know is complaining they canât find people with cybersecurity skills.ââ Although he moved from state to state, he says that the need to close the skills gap remained a constant talking pointâand worryâfor businesspeople.
The workforce shortage compounds the many challenges already faced in the rapidly changing landscape of cybersecurity. Microsoftâs vice president and lead of philanthropies, Kate Behncken, explains in a piece from this past March, âThere simply arenât enough people with the cybersecurity skills needed to fill open jobs.â In an effort to spread awareness of cybersecurityâs workforce needs, Microsoft recently launched a campaign in partnership with community colleges across the US, aiming to âhelp skill and recruit âĶ 250,000 people by 2025, representing half of the countryâs workforce shortage.â
The world needs cybersecurity professionals, and although steps are being taken to skill the newest generation of workers, America must make it a priority; âno one organization can close this gap alone,â the World Economic Forum warns, reminding us that the curbing of cyber threats âwill require active and ongoing participation and partnershipâ from everyone. Cybersecurity still faces a critical skills gap whose worsening will deteriorate the strength of our country and compromise all of our futures. 2022 is the year to emphasize the daily impact of cyber threats and introduce cybersecurity opportunities to students so that they can enter the workforce with the skills required to defend the US.
2. Aerospace
The aerospace industry is another sector that is enjoying growth at the same time it faces a stagnation of trained employees. âA huge skills gap is emerging,â says Tech Timesâs David Thompson, reporting on the 2022 Space Symposium, ânow that the space industry is becoming a commercial endeavor, funding is increasing, and more startups are developing their own capabilities.â Part of the problem is that by the time traditional training methods have prepared a worker, the industry has already evolved. As Thompson points out, âthe slow pace of academic teachingâ and the current âtime-consuming on-the-job training modelsâ do not output âqualified space personnel fast enough, and the industry is suffering as a result.â
The labor shortage comes at a time when aerospace is starting to soar again after the effects of the pandemic. Thompson relays, âGovernment organizations like the Department of Defense and NASA no longer have a monopoly on the stars.â This exciting development for the industry ensures even more growth to comeâin both the âspaceâ and the âaeroâ categorizations. Aerospace Manufacturing and Design says in their 2022 forecast that the demand for âbusiness aircraftsâ has quickly returned, âwith utilization recently passing 2019 peak levels.â It is expected for air traffic to return to its 2019 peak early next year.
But as the aerospace industry recovers from the hits it took in 2020 and 2021, skilled professionals who possess crucial expertise are exiting the workforce and opening holes that employers struggle to fill fast enough.
Whatâs the right direction for aerospace? Businesses are bridging the resulting gaps in two ways: through professional development efforts and digital solutions that âextend their teams and upskill current employees,â according to Eric Brothers, senior editor of Aerospace Manufacturing and Design. National organizations like Nova Space online and regional programs like Boeingâs DreamLearners in South Carolina hope to train and develop the next generation of aerospace experts who can close the skills gap.
3. Skilled Trades
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that the skilled trades will experience a continued rise in job openings through 2030. However, as with cybersecurity and aerospace, âthere’s a massive shortage of qualified tradespeople,â as Forbes expresses in an article aiming to empower vocational educators and therefore close the skills gap. Steve Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America, would agree that our current approach to education is part of the problem. “The federal government only spends $1 on career training for every $6 it puts into college prep,â he says on NPR. “This funding gap for career training is one of the main reasons so many contractors have a low opinion of the current pipeline for preparing new craft and construction professionals.” However, while building support within schools is certainly valuable, itâs not enough alone to bring new professionals to the trades.
Why do trade careers struggle to recruit Gen Z? In a virtual interview with LCPTracker, Erin Volk of the AGC Construction Education Foundation identifies the problem: misperceptions. Volk is the Vice President, Workforce & Community Development lead, and Executive Director of AGC, so she is all too well familiar with the inaccurate portrayal of construction and other skilled trades. She explains that members of Gen Z are âdigital nativesâ who, âthroughout their whole lives, [have] been marketed to,â and the messages theyâve heard from the media are that âconstruction is not a lucrative careerâ and âyou have to go to college to be successful.â In fact, data collected by Stanley Black & Decker last fall reveals four main contributors to the skills gap in trade careers: the âmisunderstanding of long-term financial security, incorrect knowledge of required skills, lack of exposure to those in trade skills careers, [and] observation of trades as a âmale-dominatedâ industry.â Stanley Black & Decker and Volk have witnessed this lacking education about the trades at work (or, rather, not at work) and are doing something about it.
Enter Build California, the project that Volk describes as âdesigned to inspire, engage, and activate the next generation of [the] construction workforce.â Build California seeks to educate Californians of all ages about the stateâs construction industry, including both the short- and the long-term benefits of such a career. According to the Build California website, the initiative provides âsustainable and stable pathway[s] for millions of residents across the Golden State.â
Volk, her team, and industry leaders like her battle every day against the stigmas that keep people from construction and other skilled trades, working to widen access to reliable information about construction and economic advancement andâultimatelyâincrease the numbers of professionals in the field. âItâs difficult to do,â Volk says, âbecause thereâs decades of [misperceptions] to undo,â but itâs a struggle whose overcoming will benefit us all.
Looking ahead
Each of the above industries boasts well-paying careers and stable futures, but itâs clear that the skills and interests of the available workforce are not aligned with industry needs. For the term âskills gapâ to be removed from workforce development vernacular once and for all, industry, regions and departments of education need to work together on how to communicate with, prepare and engage the next workforce generationâĶquickly.
What are your best practices in closing the skill gap in your industry?