Message from the President

Across the state, companies spend huge sums of money on workforce training and development. I have no exact number to share, but when you add up what all companies—large, medium, and small—spend on upskilling, it has to be a figure in the tens of millions per year, maybe more. Businesses of every size engage in training because they need people with the skills necessary to carry out their mission. The programs are critical to the success of employees and companies alike, and because technology and trends are a constant moving target, the need to train never really ends. If you or I oversaw a company training program, we’d have all the tools necessary to make certain those programs matched the exact needs of our employer, and we would have good insight into company plans and outside influences that might alter our training programs.

…technology and trends are a constant moving target, the need to train never really ends.

Recently, the Delaware Workforce Development Board engaged Zogby Analytics to interview a couple hundred employers representing businesses from every industry, size, and location around our state. The goal of the study was to find out more about their current and future workforce needs. This is critical research because the State finances schools and training providers who offer programs to school-age kids, young people, adults seeking new opportunities, unemployed Delawareans, and others looking to connect with an employer and a good paying job. The amount of taxpayer money financing these programs is substantial and we do a disservice to both the taxpayers of this state and the people enrolled in these programs if the training they are provided doesn’t lead to a job. If we hope to remain competitive and keep and attract great jobs to our state, it will take all of us—private employers and State-funded skills providers—doing our very best to make sure that every training dollar spent leads to a good job.