Community Colleges: Addressing a Workforce Talent Gap in Virginia

Sieberg: The Commonwealth of Virginia is facing a crisis of approximately 267,000 open and unfilled job roles as of February 2024, amplifying concerns for the Commonwealth's economic vitality. Hi, I'm Daniel Sieberg, and you're watching "Getting Connected," powered by Comcast Newsmakers. We're on location at the 2024 Skills Summit in Washington, D.C. Joining me now is Dr. David Doré. He's the Chancellor of Virginia's Community College System. David, thank you so much for being here.

Doré: Thank you for having me, Daniel.

Sieberg: Now, in the intro, we mentioned this work shortage affecting the Commonwealth of Virginia, but this is really something affecting the entire nation. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Doré: Yes. I think, you know, and that's why we're here today really at the Skills Coalition to talk about this incredible skills gap that we have throughout the country. And in Virginia, as you mentioned, we also have a skills gap. And so we're really trying to address how we're going to meet this talent need that we have, right, in a lot of sectors, right? Manufacturing, skilled trades, healthcare, IT and cyber. So this is really occurring in a lot of our industry sectors throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Sieberg: Now Virginia Community Colleges System has both traditional and short-term workforce credentialing programs. Can you tell us a bit about the student population? What are they like?

Doré: Yes. I'd be most happy. In Virginia, our community colleges, we have 23 colleges that make up the Community College System and that represents about 46% of the total undergraduate population in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And our students are both, some of them are pursuing a baccalaureate degree, so they're doing their first two years of the baccalaureate. We have a growing population of students that are really looking for short-term credentials. They don't necessarily have the time to go through a four-year degree program. And so this is one of our fastest-growing programs is our workforce training program. It's growing about 20% year-over-year every year and we're seeing that actually increase now.

Sieberg: And we've mentioned these 267,000 jobs that are available. What is Virginia's Community College System doing to fill those unfilled positions?

Doré: Right. So I think, you know, one of the most important aspects for us is really to make sure that we are aligned with each of these sectors and then we're also really serving that population of students that are going to meet these job demands. As you know, high school graduates, that population is actually beginning to decrease. So it's not going to be met -- the skills needs are not going to be met just by high school graduates, but really this growing population if you will of adult learners who need to upskill. And that really is a big focus of our energy is going after these adult learners. These are veterans. These are parents. These are students that in many instances are really making a wage that they're not really happy with. And so this is a population that we're focusing on and the program is called FastForward, and that program really is focused on these short-term credentials. This is supported by the state. So students, really, it's a much more affordable path to really getting the skills they need. And then these are skills that they can use immediately after they complete the program. Some of these programs are as short as a few weeks and most of these programs can be completed in a few months.

Sieberg: Tell us about a success story maybe with one of the programs, along with perhaps a student example.

Doré: Yes. So, again, all of these programs are really aligned with our most in-demand sectors in the Commonwealth. So one example, in the Richmond area, we have a growing pharmaceutical manufacturing sector. And we have new companies coming in and we have other companies that are growing and scaling. And they have tremendous needs for workers and there's a gap there. And so, in partnership with our economic development groups throughout the Commonwealth and in this region, we've partnered to develop a specialized pharmaceutical manufacturing program, specifically a short-term program to really get students through in a timely manner to meet the workforce needs of this sector.

Sieberg: And then the students themselves, tell us about a story maybe of one of them in particular.

Doré: Yeah, you know, I meet hundreds of students across our system but I remember one young man who I was speaking with at one of our colleges. He had lost his job -- actually wasn't that young, he was 51 years old. He had lost his job and really needed skills. And he knew that our Power Line Worker Program was a pathway to a really high-wage position and he went through this program in a few weeks. And within a few weeks, he graduated, had more than one job offer and is now happily employed and really doing very, very well.

Sieberg: Well, congratulations on all the success. Dr. David Doré, we appreciate you being with us, the Chancellor of the Community College System in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Doré: Thank you so much, Daniel.

Sieberg: And thanks to you as well for watching. For more conversations about digital equity and broadband expansion, visit gettingconnected.com. I'm Daniel Sieberg.