It used to be that what distinguished a “good job” from all the rest was based on when you showered: The person with the good job showered before work; all the others showered after work.
Good jobs were clean work. For the others- factory workers, laborers and the host of other unskilled employees – the work was, quite often, a dirty job.
Some perceptions die hard.
Today’s factories are high-tech, clean, heavily mechanized and automated environments.
The workers are highly-skilled, well-trained and — of particular note — well-paid.
Here in the Golden Triangle, where industry has been on a decade-long boom, the demand for workers equipped with the proper skills to join the workforce has never been higher. While the unemployment rate here remains high – the area’s unemployment rate is 8.5 percent with more than 6,200 eligible workers currently without work – finding adequate numbers of qualified applicants is depressingly low. In fact, some economic recruiters cite the lack of workforce-ready workers as our biggest obstacle to recruiting more industry.
To remedy that problem, the Golden Triangle Development LINK has partnered with area school districts to offer the WorkKeys test at a reduced — and sometimes free — rate. Much as the ACT measures a student’s aptitude for succeeding in college, WorkKeys assesses a person’s readiness for moving into the world of today’s modern workplace.
In Columbus, just eight students took advantage of that opportunity last year, which is disappointing and suggests those old perceptions persist. (West Point had 72 students take the test while Lowndes County had just a handful and Starkville had none.) For some parents and educators, the WorkKeys test and what it represents may still be considered a sign of failure, an admission that the student is not “college material.”
That’s troubling and inaccurate. At Yokohama, for example, you must have achieved at least a “Silver” designation on the test to be employed, whether you are a janitor or a manager.
This year, there are 49 Columbus High students enrolled in a WorkKeys preparation course, a possible sign that parents and students are beginning to grasp the opportunity the test represents. Still, only a fraction of students is expected to take the WorkKeys test this year.
That is unfortunate. Even those students who are college-bound should take the test because it could open the door to summer jobs or internships. It simply provides another option, should the college experience not be what the student imagined, which happens often.
Clearly, there is no down-side to taking the WorkKeys test.
We encourage parents and educators to spread that message.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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