The Penn Foster Blog

Safety is the responsibility of everyone in the workplace. From the C-suite to equipment operators to the office staff, each and every member of your team should have the tools and knowledge to keep themselves and their coworkers safe at work.

Across the United States, employers in the skilled trades, particularly in manufacturing, are facing a severe shortage of skilled workers. This skills gap is causing a growing number of discouraged workers who feel as though while there are open jobs, they cannot access them without specialized training or education.

This past weekend's Penn Foster Graduation Ceremony was, as always, one of the most moving days of the year for me.  And as I watched several hundred Penn Foster graduates leave the stage with diploma, certificate or degree in hand, I felt not only a great sense of optimism for them individually, but also for them as a group.  The reason? More so than in any of my prior six Penn Foster graduations, our graduates will be entering a job market anxious for credentialed learners that have already demonstrated the hallmarks of high potential professionals in terms of discipline, resilience, and commitment to growing investment in skills attainment.

In recent years, obtaining a college diploma has become the standard for entering the workforce. However, multiple competing forces within both the education and job market have begun to render this "standard" down to an option for some, but not all.

Like many industries in today's economy, the trucking industry is not immune to the effects of the growing labor shortage for skilled workers. According to the Washington Post, young Americans are increasingly becoming disinterested in joining the trucking labor force, as fear of the imminence of self-driving trucks continues to permeate the industry. While such a reality may still be far into the future, the reality that exists today is this: There simply aren't enough truck drivers to go around.

You know all about millennials. You understand that they make up the biggest portion of the workforce, that they expect more guidance and clearer paths for career development, that they're impacting every industry from paper products to farming. Manufacturing is no exception. The millennial generation is looking at the manufacturing industry in new ways and expecting it to learn new tricks. Doing so is a matter of survival for manufacturing companies. Though more and more jobs are being filled by automation, the manufacturing industry still faces the same skills gap as other middle-skills industries. To attract these younger, more technologically savvy workers. Manufacturing companies must be willing to change, and change quickly. Fortunately, that seems to be exactly what the majority of them are doing.

Recently, the Labor Department shared exciting news about the US job market, boasting a 3.9% unemployment rate. An achievement certainly, but for many employers, the low unemployment means stiffer competition for their labor force. In the skilled trades industry particularly, this means employers must differentiate themselves to maintain a skilled workforce and talent pipeline, all while also combatting other workforce challenges related to the skills gap.

More Needs to be Done to Help the Working Class

On April 6th, friends and families gathered to watch their loved ones reach a significant milestone in their lives, as Chicago CRED welcomed its newest group of 27 high school graduates. Twenty-six men and the program's first female graduate walked across the stage to receive their high school diplomas, taking an important step in their journey to make a difference in their communities and create better lives for themselves and for their families.

The solar power industry is booming. Although legislative challenges still exist, the overall trajectory of the solar power industry is upward. Any company involved in residential or commercial electrical services or any power-related service should be keeping a sharp eye on this emergent industry.