Gap between jobs, workers studied
A new computer program is shedding light on the discrepancies between the skills of Maine workers and the job opportunities available in the state.
The Maine Department of Labor has used the program to show the gap between what employers are seeking and the skills possessed by the state's labor force, which acting Commissioner John Dorrer said is "a dramatic mismatch," according to Capitol News Service. Dorrer told the news service that the program showed more than 3,000 unemployed workers receiving unemployment benefits had job skills that fit only 300 jobs across the state. Only about 600 workers fit the skill sets required for about 4,500 health care professional and technical occupations recently posted online.
State labor officials have long recognized this gap, but the new program allows the state to analyze the data based on actual job openings instead of projections. The state used federal grant funding to purchase the program, which has an annual fee of $27,000. The software is still being tested but is expected to be available online for employers to use to help plan future work force needs.
Dorrer said the data has shown the difficulty of retraining workers for relevant job openings. "The skills needed often take longer to obtain than the duration of a person's unemployment benefits," he told the news service.
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