3 ways we can ease job woes on LI
Long Island's unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in January, from 5.9 percent a year ago, the state Labor Department said Tuesday. This is the job board on March 9, 2015 at the Suffolk County One-Stop Employment Center in Hauppauge. Credit: Heather Walsh
The recent news about low or stagnant wages is just one aspect of pressing employment issues and status of work on Long Island. If workers are doing less well, there is a confluence of factors contributing to it.
In my experience as a career counselor for a government agency, I've seen how the rising costs of living -- including rents, property taxes and insurance -- continually cancel out many wage increases.
There has been tremendous growth in service-sector jobs, such as home health care agencies, food chains, "strip mall" businesses and retail establishments. And I've also seen that many of those and other jobs are offered as part time, per diem, freelance or on a temp job basis since the economic crash of 2008 and beyond. Though many home care agencies, to their credit, offer $10- to $11-an-hour jobs with sign-on bonuses, vacation, and full benefits, including 401K.
In at least three ways, Long Island could create a win-win situation for employees and local businesses.
Government grants for on-the-job training programs, including and apprenticeships can be a boon to fledgling companies and those accelerating in growth. Keeping true to the philosophy of training individuals to do a job, a subsidized salary might be the boost needed to fill an employer's need and offer the trained individual a permanent job. One business and government professional in Connecticut ran an internship program for dislocated, matured professionals. Those interns would later be hired permanently. His project can serve as a model on Long Island.
School-to-business partnerships allow businesses and educational institutions to decide together exactly which specific skills and abilities are required for industries so schools can institute corresponding curricula. For example, vocational schools and community colleges could provide courses relevant to those business requirements and businesses would be more inclined to tap prospective job candidates for fields in which they studied because they have a vested interest.
Vocational training and non-degreed college certificate courses provide another opportunity. Certificates in specific studies -- financial modeling and data architecture for IT and finance professionals and sophisticated courses in managing data analytics, highly-advanced mobile applications and platforms in marketing and advertising -- could go a long way.
I hope that businesses and schools can unite in a just social and economic cause -- helping people make a living and sustain themselves.
Gloria Schramm is a retired career counselor with the Town of Hempstead's Department of Occupational Resources.
