Finding and keeping the right person for the right job can be tough for business and workers alike.

Well, this week on Nevada Week we look at efforts in Las Vegas to match workers to positions and keep them there.

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt and additional supporting sponsors.

(Kipp Ortenburger) For many people, what they learned from the pandemic is they don't like their jobs; in fact, roughly 100,000 people in Las Vegas have chosen not to return to their jobs.

People have left jobs for a lot of different reasons, and for others the right job might be just out of reach.

At the same time, companies have struggled to find the right workers.

Many of our local and public-private agencies are working together to solve that riddle.

Joining us to talk about the efforts to train and keep the right person for the right job are Frank Woodeck, executive director of grants and special projects at the College of Southern Nevada; Federico Zaragoza, president of the College of Southern Nevada, and Jared Smith, chief operating officer for the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.

Thank you so much for being here; we really appreciate it.

I mean, it is a challenge, and Jared, I want to start with you.

I mean, obviously it makes a lot of sense, the right job for the right person, good for the business, good for the person itself.

But let's talk maybe a little more macro here.

Why is finding the right person for the right job so important?

One of the things we talk so much on the show about is economic diversification.

Why is it so important there?

(Jared Smith) Kipp, there's a lot to unpack here.

In these times, we've never seen the demand for workforce like we've seen it in the last 50 years.

It is really unprecedented because COVID workers are choosing to stay home or looking for options to stay home, and I think it's incumbent upon all of us as a community to think about what do we need to do to get those people back to work?

What do companies need to do to flex, to meet those people where they are?

Workforce and sites, available sites for companies to land, are the top two issues that every company we talked to has.

Now, sites are a challenge, but for workforce it's finding the right skills.

It's having providers like CSN and other education providers really say hey, we have programs that will help you get ready to work in these new diverse industries, all right?

But there's some issues here.

People are still concerned about how are they going to get trained?

There's what I like to call first-mile services where for me to get training from somebody like CSN, I have to have healthcare.

I mean, I have to have not healthcare, but... -Well, let me stop you there.

Let's talk a little about the bigger aspects, and I mean a lot of the skills you're talking about.

The challenge I think, Dr. Z, is that we have four-year-level job opportunities, we have maybe a community college job opportunity, we have credentialing that, you know, brings in jobs.

I mean, what's the central gap here that we need to be talking about most?

(Dr. Federico Zaragoza) A lot of moving parts also in that question.

First and foremost, I think we have to differentiate between labor shortages and skill shortages.

They are two very distinct elements of a much bigger question.

We've seen a major influx of scenarios now where the labor shortage is intensifying, and whether or not wages or benefits can stimulate getting people back into the labor pool is really one of those unknown questions.

But obviously that's a little bit different than the skill shortage, and the skill shortage is where you have structural unemployment where individuals don't have the skills needed for those jobs.

Unfortunately, we have an element of both, and I think it's trying to address kind of aligning the strategies to both of those dynamics that's really critical for us.

And for the College of Southern Nevada obviously, we have to be nimble.

We're industry driven, so when we talk about education, we're talking about economic development.

We're aligning our programs to the jobs that are here and that are coming and then obviously right-sizing the programs, and I think that's the critical challenge.

We already know that I'm not producing enough graduates in the health area so we have to grow those programs, and there's a lot of reasons why those conversations are important, and it's not only an issue of not having the pipeline.

I'll give you an example.

In nursing I actually have a waiting list of nurses waiting to come in there, but we don't have enough clinical sites.

Then you have the issue of having the right faculty to grow those programs.

The bottom line is that it takes really a community effort.

It takes a village to be successful in the space because it's so complicated.

There's diversity and equity elements that also play into this, and at the College of Southern Nevada, I mean, we reflect the broader issue in the community because, I mean, we are a community college, and 70% of our students are minorities.

Like in the community, we reflect and mirror the community so a lot of the questions and issues that are workforce related find themselves into our student body and issues we deal with day in and day out.

-Yes, Dr. Z, it's a great point.

I want to come back to the public-private partnership conversation in a second.

Frank, I want to talk to you about this greater equity conversation.

It's another thing that we cover on the show quite a bit, and the wealth gap keeps coming up again and again and again on the show, and here we are talking about the potential to have a family or an individual have a higher wage.

How important is that to this?

(Frank Woodbeck) It is important, and before I-- I'll address that in a couple different ways.

One, historically.

Our problem and difficulty with regards to the skill shortage that Dr. Zaragoza referred to, the skill gap if you will, that dates back to pre-Great Recession days quite frankly, but it was exacerbated by the Great Recession.

And a loss of an enormous number of jobs in construction, for example, over 100,000 jobs.

And hospitality at that time, it's now back in the 2000s, it was 55,000 jobs, I believe it was, in hospitality we lost.

We were talking about diversification for decades, and during that time, I happened to be involved in economic development, but I also happened to be director of DETR at the time too.

-I'm sorry, DETR, the Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation.

-Yes, the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

And one of the challenges we have faced since then is underemployment and the fact that we did not address or could not address the skill shortage at that time for the emerging industries.

This is the first time we've had the collaboration that we have had, that we have now between economic development and workforce development through higher education, and addressing those particular skill gaps, that contributes to the equity gap you have.

-And let's talk about where we are now.

We have this big gap back to the Recession.

We've done a lot systems-level to kind of shore up some of this; how good of a job are we doing now?

-I think we're doing a much better job, but one of the things that Dr. Zaragoza and I talk about many, many times is okay, how do we market what we have?

How do we make sure that folks know if you are underemployed, for example, and you want to change careers, or if you want to start a career, it's not always a matter of four years of college and then I can start work.

It's not a matter-- it's not even a matter of two years of college and then starting to work.

We have skill programs that are 16 weeks in length or less than a half a year for example that will get you a job in one of the emerging industries and allow you to continue that education.

That's the program, that's the pathway that we've built over this last decade, and we want to be able to make sure that's understood by the general public.

-For sure, and pathways are so important.

We're going to jump to that in just a second.

-I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of you.

-No, that's okay.

But I want to come back to something we've already talked about a little bit, which of course is COVID and how even when we're talking about career pathways and 16-week programs that are more traditionally run, the game changed a lot with COVID just because of that.

Jared, I want to come to you first, and let's talk about some of the businesses that are here now that are trying to grow, new businesses that are coming in.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you've seen bringing that industry here?

-The absolute biggest challenge is our citizens having the right skills that they need, so what CSN and our other training partners have been fantastic at is anticipating that and skating ahead of the puck to say hey, we know we've got manufacturers and logistics companies coming here, so let's start training our people now for the jobs that will be arriving here over the next one to three years, which is amazing.

In the areas of technology, what's interesting, Kipp, is the technology changes so fast that we could start training now and somebody could go through a six-month training program and in one year, it could be out of date.

-Dr. Z, I have to come to you here because, I mean, one to three years doesn't sound like that long, but it seems like there's a big challenge in just seeing what is one to three years down the road and then changing a system of higher education to fit those needs.

How much of a challenge is that?

-Actually, one to three years is way too long.

The community college space is about "just in time" and kind of working at the speed of business, and I think that's really the challenge for us is to have the kind of supportive networks that we can work with employers and go into the workplace and customize a program for an employer.

When we talk about Haas coming to town, it includes training a lot of the incumbent workers they're going to be hiring while they're being hired, while they're actually in the production cycle.

So when it comes to the worker, training is important and creating the pipeline.

And it's not just kind of those that are looking for work but obviously those that are in the public school system, giving them an understanding of the kind of careers that are going to be available in advanced manufacturing and the skill sets having to be there, and then actually providing the bridge and the instruction to get them there.

So the work is multifaceted, but it starts now.

It's not something you're going to be able to in three years make happen.

If you're not doing it now, it's not going to happen.

-Yes.

And as you said-- -Kipp, I can add... -Sure, go ahead.

-I was just going to say I can add to what Dr. Zaragoza spoke about because over two years ago we began talking with Haas, and we were at their headquarters to talk about what skill training they're looking for for those jobs that are going to be created in three years, and that's really what has to happen.

-Haas Automation?

-Haas Automation, yes.

-What are they making?

-They make machines that make machines essentially is about the best way-- they're the largest in the world at computer, numerically controlled machining, and they actually machine parts that actually are making machines.

-Got it, and big industry that's coming in is the most important part about that.

-Kipp, what I wanted to add to that, we were talking about COVID and the impacts, right?

So it's one thing if a new technology company comes to town and most of their people can work remote and they can space out, but in a manufacturing floor or a warehouse floor logistics, you know, people are still getting used to saying okay, I'm ready to be back in this proximity with other folks.

So that is a challenge so we've got to get our folks vaccinated, and we've got to get everybody to have safe workplaces.

-Right, because that type of work is not changing for sure.

Well, as we've just been discussing, COVID has had several impacts on developing Nevada's workforce today and tomorrow.

Our Nevada Week team talked with two organizations working in the sector about their work.

Las Vegas is experiencing an unemployment crisis fueled by the COVID pandemic; in fact, the city's unemployment rate is the highest in the nation among large metro areas.

Fortunately, some local organizations are stepping in to assist those who now need a job, a career.

(Richard D. Neal Jr.) Sometimes when you have watershed events like a pandemic, employers find different ways of doing things, and some jobs were eliminated and these people need new jobs.

So it's not that they lack skills altogether, they just need new skills.

And they can acquie new work skills at Goodwill Industries of Southern Nevada.

Well-known for its thrift stores, Goodwill's overarching mission is providing workforce development to the Las Vegas community, and they're doing so in innovative ways.

In addition to online training opportunities, job seekers can also visit one of Goodwill's two local career training centers.

We provide everything from bus passes to help people overcome the barrier of just transportation to get to work all the way up to training in a career path.

Ashley Strong, whose husband is in the military, dreamed of a career in the medical field but discovered the cost of the training exceeded her family's budget.

So Ashley went online and Googled "free classes" and found Goodwill's career training offerings.

(Ashley Strong) So far I completed the NV Hope Bootcamp, and I also got an interview with Centennial Hills.

My goal is to get my foot in the door by getting into the hospital working and then furthering my education and getting into nursing school.

Ashley's ultimate goal is a doctorate in nursing.

She credits Goodwill of Southern Nevada with guiding her toward her goal and offers this advice to others.

If you are a local and you don't know about Goodwill and their resources, I advise you to walk in, to ask.

Don't be afraid to ask for help and guidance, because there are people out there in the world that want to see you succeed.

Chelsey Ortiz, whose husband is in the Air Force, is also finding success with Goodwill Industries of Southern Nevada.

She completed an educational bootcamp and then a more focused training in the medical field.

(Chelsey Ortiz) I ended up going to school for CNA and graduated from that just in September, and I already got a job offer at Centennial Hills Hospital.

I'm excited to work in a hospital because that was my ultimate goal, and my ultimate goal is to pursue further than CNA.

Goodwill Industries of Southern Nevada assisted approximately 4,000 people with career services in 2020, services that are changing lives.

What we're starting to see is people are starting to launch onto paths of career growth.

It is actually having a trajectory change for their lives.

Another local organization providing Las Vegans with innovative career training is Vegas PBS.

(Debra Solt) One of the programs we're doing right now is a program with the Office of Workforce Innovation and Project Neon with Welfare where we're taking a one-year, A+, Net+, Security+ program and actually doing it with a group of welfare students in nine months.

The online course bundles in-person mentorship and internship opportunities with hands-on work.

Whether you're working and looking at changing careers or the unemployed, underemployed, we actually get them with some of our partners in the community who actually have those training dollars to provide scholarships.

There are currently 300 students engaging in Vegas PBS' long-term career training programs, and nearly 11,000 participants per year participating in short-term training programs, and both are seeing positive outcomes.

People are getting certified, they're getting jobs, and our community is better for it.

-Well thanks, Heather, we appreciate it.

Two takeaways I have from our clip there, a lot of these trainings are about getting your foot in the door, but each individual that was talked about, this is a long-term plan which obviously means other credentials, other training, other education, other skills that you're going to need.

Dr. Z, I want to talk about the first part of that, getting your foot in the door.

How much of CSN, the training you are trying to employ there, is really of trying to get that first step into a career?

-That's a big part of the onboarding process.

Most of our programs, in fact about 80% of our programs now, have what we call this goal certificate meaning that, you know, if your goal is getting a job-- and we see that a lot now with people that are displaced and want to get back into the workforce-- but they need to do it as soon as possible.

So what we've done is in these programs, and CNA is a good example, a certified nursing assistant, which leads to an LVN pathway that leads to an RN pathway to BSN.

But that first step might take something like a semester, so they can get into the workplace and then continue through a career pathway.

So we've unbundled the curriculum so you have stackable certificates that can align to the nature of work, and they can continue up in the workplace as well as getting those credentials within the College of Southern Nevada.

We've actually done that in kind of multiple occupations because that is the nature of our students-- 70% of our students are part time, and of those one in three are actually working.

So we know that they're coming to us because they want to upgrade, they want to better their situation so stackable certificates is really critical, and that's realigning the way we look at higher education.

-And what's better than working in the field and the career that your ultimate goal is.

It makes total sense.

Here we are with career pathways, Frank, and I want to come to you.

The second part of the conversation is you get your foot in the door.

Now of course a lot of employers want retention; retention becomes really, really important, and I'm assuming if you have these stackable credits, this way of creating a career pathway, you have more longevity in the career.

How important is that, and my question to you is do the skills change as you kind of move along this career pathway here?

-The skills do change, but what we want to do hand in hand with industry, with those employers, is to make sure that we keep up with those skill changes, the necessary changes in the skill and our instruction keeps up with that.

So that's really where the partnership with industry is so vitally important.

I'll give you an example of what the future is going to look like in manufacturing for example, and I'll go back to Haas Automation again.

That particular industry is a growing industry.

It uses computer skills, et cetera.

You can get an entry-level job there, but the plan is to have a center of excellence that's going to be built in Henderson adjacent to Haas that will serve not only Haas but other manufacturers that are based in Southern Nevada.

And through that we can continue to train incumbent workers so the company does not have to set up their own training mechanism, if you will.

We can do proprietary training on their part or training that would go across any number of industry needs at that center of excellence.

So that's the pathway, if you will, and if you kind of picture a highway with offramps, and basically each offramp represents another skill enhancement and you can continue that.

Now, you might want to stop where you are after gaining the basic skills, or you might continue on and you might end up being an engineer.

But that's what the plan is, and that's what we're building at this time.

-I could add to that, too.

One of the elements, I think, in terms of the nature of work is that now it's a lifeline learning paradigm.

So when you get employed, the employers are also having to invest to keep that worker, because really if you look at the labor demand pools we talked about earlier, they're not going to be growing so you're going to have to keep your employees.

And the whole issue of lifelong learning and what that means is a specific sector, and occupation now is part and parcel and part of our discussion of not only getting them hired but keeping them and then growing them.

Many strategies such as tuition reimbursement kind of do that, but more and more we see employers investing more in onsite training and really using the workplace as a strategy to retain that workforce.

-It makes so much sense.

Jared, I think I was just about to ask what you're going to comment on so I'm going to throw it to you.

-So as we talk about pathways, let's talk about the roadmap and how this happened.

-So economic development communities, so LVGEA, our partners, we work with companies to bring in, and I'm here to tell you this is our best year that we've ever seen in assisted job creation.

We're almost at 6,000 new jobs at an average wage of $30 an hour.

That is amazing, and we're excited and we're going to champion that.

However, there's also some issues there.

That's 6,000 new jobs that need to be filled, correct?

So think about the roadmap.

Our team in partnership with our local municipalities, we go out and we land one of these great projects.

In that recruitment process, we involve Dr. Z and Frank so the company can see what's possible to have that ramp of new employees, and after they commit and they come and these are in place, to this retention question, learning to work becomes working to learn, right?

So there are resources we have to bring to bear.

Workforce Connections offers dollars for incumbent worker training, which is critical.

All of that said, we as a community have to market this not only to our companies but also to our people.

-It's such an important part, right?

If our residents, especially those that are maybe underemployed, are not aware of what a career pathway is and how Frank so well articulated it, Dr. Z, they're not going to know, so let's talk about that.

I mean, what do we need to do to bring more awareness to this?

-It takes a village.

It takes the whole community, and I think the ecosystem has to work hand in hand.

That includes the public school system and creating that information and the pathways while they're still in school.

I mean, while they're still in the public school developmental stages.

So creating systemic connections is critical, and then creating the programs themselves which is one of the areas we're very excited about because we're now creating dual enrollment programs where high school students are earning degrees while still in high school.

In fact, we had almost 100 of them that earned associate's degrees while they were still in high school.

And we've got pathways.

We're working with some employers now where they're going to be basically sponsoring a class of HVAC technicians that have jobs when they graduate, and we're looking at the same type of model in the diesel area.

So it's that kind of engagement that's real critical, but it's also providing that information to second-chance systems, because if we're going to look at the workforce, you just can't look at the pipeline.

You've got to look at the job seeker, and the adult job seeker includes pockets of second-chance populations whether they be ex-offenders, whether they be immigrant populations, individuals that don't have a high school diploma.

So working to get that information into their hands is real critical, and also to create kind of this integration where they're earning and learning; it's part of that lifeline paradigm.

But we as a system have got to make those connections because the metrics don't add up.

We have to utilize the resources of every individual in this community.

So the second-chance system, the adult training system is big, and there are programs like Ability to Benefit that allow us to take a pool-- remember, there's about 20% of the population that doesn't even have a high school diploma.

When you look at the jobs and the type of jobs that are being created, there's a mismatch.

That's that skill gap we talked about.

But we can bring programs now to the GED population, like we do with high school students, and bring the training to where they are and create these connections that demand occupations.

You know, the point here is we have to innovate, we have to align, and we have to operate as a community that is an ecosystem.

And the support systems that you've kind of heard, the Goodwill story is amazing to me because it takes that kind of partnership to have a functional community, and I think that's what you're beginning to see in Las Vegas is that, you know, we get it.

We're working together and, you know, we realize the work gets done now, and it's urgent.

-Very, very important.

I wish we had more time.

Really, I think we need multiple hours to talk about this.

Last point I want to make is the career pathways, I think what's so interesting about that is you talk about this is not just beginning and end starting with a high school student.

Adults have these onramps as well to employment, very, very important.

Thank you so much for being here.

-Thank you.

-I want to thank our guests, Frank Woodbeck with CSN; Federico Zaragoza, also with CSN, and Jared Smith from the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.

Now, for more information on the resources we discussed on the show, please visit our website at vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek.

You can also always find us on social media at @nevadaweek on Facebook and on Twitter.

Thanks a lot, and we'll see you next week.

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