South Dakota leaders are trying to find ways to get unemployed residents into jobs. But, officials say the difficulty is finding workers with the right skills.
House Minority Leader Bernie Hunhoff says the workforce shortage is caused by an opportunity gap. He says poor individuals don't have the same opportunities for workforce development or post-secondary education. Hunhoff says individuals who are able to go to college often move to another state.
“Those who are really struggling to find opportunities are more likely to stay in South Dakota—we’ve got to develop them for their own good and the good of our economy and our neighborhoods and our cities. So, that opportunity gap is how I would define it, I think that’s better terminology than workforce development. We’ve got to close that opportunity gap and it’s partly about education, it’s also about healthcare and expanding Medicaid, it’s even about things like prenatal care,” Hunhoff says.
Hunhoff says Governor Dennis Daugaard has supported many of these initiatives, but it’s a problem that won’t be fixed overnight. Hunhoff says leaders need to be blunt about the outlook, rather than trying to paint a rosy picture and glaze over the issue.
Governor Daugaard says progress has been made in the two years since the workforce development initiative was passed. But despite some success, Daugaard knows more work needs to be done to fill the gap.
“It’s more of a continuous effort that we have to undertake to find the areas where we have job opportunities in South Dakota because we want to afford our citizens the opportunity to work. We want them to have work opportunities that fit their skills. We’ve got many job openings in South Dakota and we have many people looking for work in South Dakota, but those looking for work don’t have the skills to meet the job openings,” Daugaard says.
Daugaard says he’s talking with local leaders to hold workforce summits in upcoming months that will bring in potential workers and identify ways the state can prepare them for jobs. Much of the focus of the legislature this session has been on career and technical education to make high school students job-ready when they graduate.