Businesses and organizations across the state have had to get creative to find and train the talent they and their communities need.
The talent need and brain drain have been an issue in Indiana for years, and that was only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indiana Chamber has been a leader in promoting work-and-learn initiatives and opportunities, but we’re not alone.
Columbus-based diesel engine maker Cummins and the Indiana Office of Technology (IOT) are two examples of entities taking creative steps to deal with the talent issue.
The IOT’s State Earn and Learn (SEAL) IT Program, a work-based learning initiative with on-the-job training in IT government careers, recently hit a milestone by adding its 50th associate.
The SEAL program finds, hires and trains people from all walks of life – and from a wide range of sectors. For instance, SEAL participants previously worked as arcade technicians, grocery store workers, cooks, factory workers and truck drivers. Those people are now employed in cybersecurity, disaster recovery, telecommunications, software development and cloud operations.
“The SEAL IT Program has allowed IOT to find and train the next generation of its workforce,” explains Jon Rogers, IOT director of strategic workforce planning. “Through SEAL IT and its skills-based focus on hiring, IOT has taken bold, innovative steps in public sector IT hiring and talent development practices, and the agency has earned kudos from leaders in the broader Indiana IT community for its efforts.”
SEAL program participants have time built into their work week for academic studying and certification preparation. The program started with two participants in March 2020. So far 19 of the program’s graduates have taken full-time tech jobs with IOT. That number is expected to grow dramatically.
Cummins began its innovative Technical Education for Communities (TEC) Program back in 2012, but it launched its first Indiana site – at Indianapolis’ Arsenal Technical High School – earlier this year.
The global program now has 26 sites in 12 countries. It aims to provide vocational and technical skills training in communities where there are skills gaps. In Indiana, Cummins is partnering with several state organizations, including Allison Transmission, Ivy Tech Community College and IndyGo, to provide resources for the TEC program students as well as potential job opportunities.
The TEC program’s mission goes far beyond providing talent for Cummins.
“What we have done is we typically try to identify skills gaps in regions globally,” explains Frank Griffin, Cummins corporate responsibility program director. “What TEC does is provide a school-based, industry supported vocational skills training (program) for people to be able to give them good jobs. What we realized is that there was a significant gap in skilled labor, and it was significantly impacting the communities where we live and work.
“In many manufacturing areas across the country, there’s a lack of skilled trade in the field,” Griffin adds. “Because of this it greatly affects small businesses and large businesses alike. It affects the communities because of unemployment and underemployment. We think by launching TEC, we can not only help supply skilled trade but help the workforce development in those communities and help the small and large businesses that need those technical competencies.”
Griffin thinks the program is having a major impact on the brain drain issue.
“People leave for a lot of reasons,” Griffin says. “One of the most import reasons is because they’re unemployed or underemployed. … So whenever you can develop underserved communities, that allows people to stay closer to home and closer to their families. It’s a win-win for everybody. TEC wants to be a part of revitalizing those underserved communities.”
Cummins is by no means done growing the TEC program. Globally, Cummins has TEC programs in far-flung locations such as Brazil, Nigeria, Australia and Chile. The program currently has five U.S. sites.
“We want to continue to expand and grow this program as much as possible globally and expand it in the U.S.,” Griffin emphasizes.
