Summit highlights Connecticut’s workforce challenges

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Some of the largest private employers in Connecticut gathered Wednesday in Hartford on for the annual economic summit of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA).

Workforce development was a key theme of the summit. CBIA said hiring remains a key challenge for Connecticut businesses of every size.

Chris DiPentima, the association’s CEO, said there are 93,000 job openings in the state and 68,000 people on unemployment.

“If we had zero percent unemployment, we’d still have 30,000 job openings in Connecticut – we just don’t have enough people,” DiPentima said. “And so, finding the people is really what the employers, the businesses, are struggling with.”

Employers agreed that recruiting is a primary challenge.

“Getting that skilled workforce is a challenge,” said Carolina Cavalcante, the president of Tilcon Connecticut. Tilcon is a building materials and construction company that employs more than 600 people in Connecticut.

Cavalcante said the company has been investing in training programs alongside trade unions and other local organizations.

She said the company is “doing a lot of work with technical schools. Looking at different technician programs that we can invest in and also with the union – in terms of making sure we’re getting apprentices in, setting up internships” and building interest in the industry.

Josh Guyot, the CEO Foxwoods Resort Casino, echoed DiPentima and Cavalcante on the issue of recruitment.

“You heard today talk about, you know, 93,000 jobs within the State of Connecticut that are currently open,” Guyot said. “Some of those are our jobs, and so there aren’t enough people within the State of Connecticut to fill those jobs ,and so that continues to be one of our biggest challenges.”

As for the factors driving the state’s workforce challenges, DiPentima highlighted a recent study commissioned by CBIA that surveyed Connecticut businesses.

“Businesses cited the high cost of living as one of the top reasons why they can’t fill their workforce needs – attracting people to Connecticut, keeping people in Connecticut,” DiPentima said.

CBIA lobbies the legislature to enact business-friendly tax and regulatory policies. DiPentima said the predictability and stability of those policies plays an outsized role in the costs companies pay to do business in Connecticut.

The cost of child care and housing are also key factors driving the state’s high cost of living, according to the CBIA study. DiPentima said that 60% of businesses said child care is hurting retention and recruitment efforts.

DiPentima highlighted a model of child care called tri-share that aims to lower the burden on parents by dividing the costs of child care between employers, parents and the government. The model has been rolled out in several other states and is being piloted in Connecticut thanks to recently-passed legislation.

Retaining young people is another a key part of the equation for Connecticut’s workforce, according to business advocates. Josh Geballe, a senior associate provost at Yale University and the managing director of Yale Ventures, argues that building an ecosystem that fosters start-up companies is key to attracting a talented young workforce.

Through his work at Yale, Geballe has facilitated significant investments in New Haven-based start-ups. In addition to creating a business environment that encourages entrepreneurs, Geballe also said the city itself plays a role in retaining recent graduates who might otherwise decamp for New York or Boston.

“I think its really important for retention of those students when they graduate that they have vibrant, growing, successful cities,” Geballe said. “That’s one of the things we’re focused on. When you relocate these people, or your get ’em to stay when they graduate, they’ll typically stick around. They realize Connecticut’s a great place to live and so even if that start-up fails, they’re then here and they’re looking for the next one.”

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