Connecting jobs to skilled workers — and skilled workers to jobs.
In a state that prides itself on supporting organized labor, you might think this would be easy. That’s not always the case.
Mike Makarski, the external affairs lead at ELEC, the Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative for Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, laid out the issue.
“On the trade side, we don’t have a people problem, we don’t have a skill problem, we have a policy problem — and we have a process problem,” he said.
Makarski, known for his ability to quickly and succinctly make his points, did just that before the audience at the New Jersey Utilities Association 110th Annual Conference last week in Morristown.
To be clear, Makarski does not have a problem with the utilities — a view that was shared by the four other panelists: Rob Shimko of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 400, Stephanie Staub of the New Jersey Community Colleges Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development, Bob Bullard of Rowan University and Doreene Bennett of New Jersey American Water.
Makarski was simply expressing understandable frustration at a process of connecting workers to jobs that does not always go as smoothly as it could.
Makarski said he knows utilities are making plans for investments — and that workers will be needed for them. He is frustrated that the process, which can take years, can be upended by politicians before it even starts.
“That’s not a utilities problem; that’s a government policy problem,” he said. “When we’re planning for the future, we have to take that into account.”
Shimko couldn’t agree more.
All of the IBEW’s locals spent time and money preparing their members to be ready for the offshore wind energy boom — only to see it go bust.
“That’s been a tough one for us,” he said. “We got prepared for that for many years, and now the rug gets pulled out from underneath us.”
Shimko said learning how to train workers to work in the water was a challenge.
“We sent guys out to be diver certified,” he said. “We were getting prepared for wind coming in. Right now, that’s at a little bit of a standstill. Hopefully, it’ll come back.”
Shimko doesn’t blame the utilities, either — he said IBEW has a great relationship with all of them. He blames the political system that seemingly allows policies to yo-yo back and forth.
The good news in all this: There are a lot of workers — in the system now and being trained for the future.
Even better: There are plenty of partnerships that are working.
Staub said the consortium’s workforce initiative — NJ Pathways to Career Opportunities: Aligning Education to Build an Innovative Workforce — brings together employers, industry associations, labor unions, education institutions and workforce development partners to provide students and workers with the education and career pathways.
Whether it’s working with K-12 dual enrollment programs, vocational-technical schools or the community colleges themselves, the consortium is creating a skilled workforce. Staub said she recently attended a graduation ceremony at Essex County College in which 142 high school seniors got their associate degrees a couple of weeks before they received their high school diplomas.
Bullard said Rowan has a similar mission.
The school may be most noted for its engineering and medical schools, but it aims to serve all students heading into all sectors, Bullard said.
“We are the educational partner now for NABTU, North America’s Building Trade Unions,” he said — noting two local utilities (Atlantic City Electric and South Jersey Industries) frequently hire Rowan students.
One of the reasons the relationship works is because Rowan works to make it work, Bullard said.
“For us, it’s not so much, ‘This is what we do,’ it’s more: ‘How can we help? Where are you seeing the needs? How can we get behind that as early as possible?’” he said.
“We are nimble as possible to make sure at the end of the day, we are training the new leaders for tomorrow.”
This is all great news for Bennett.
She praised the work environment at New Jersey American Water — it’s one she’s trying to get the next generation to join. The company, she said, has an aging workforce that will soon start retiring at a rapid pace.
Replacements are needed, so she spends a good bit of her time telling students there are good-paying jobs (starting at $70,000) that do not require a college degree.
Bennett also said New Jersey American Water is working to train an older generation to be the next generation of workers with its Water UP program, where the “U” stands for utility and the “P” stands for pipeline.
Bennett said NJAW goes to underserved communities and finds adults for a 10-week training program for all types of opportunities within the company.
Opportunities. That was the key word on the panel. There are plenty of workforce opportunities out there, it’s just a matter of ensuring all parties are connected properly.
Makarski sees a future in which up to $70 billion will be invested in utility infrastructure in the next 10 years.
“That’s our real opportunity,” he said. “When you do the 3-to-1 infrastructure-to-economic-development calculation, you’re north of $200 billion in positivity for the New Jersey economy.”
Makarski said all of the panelists welcome the chance to understand what the manpower needs of utilities will be six months from now, three years from now and 10 years from now.
“We can’t hit the panic button now,” he said. “We’ve got time to fill these gaps.”
