Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1415957
21 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 4, 2021 FOCUS: MANUFACTURING • Eastern is the top-ranked public regional university in New England (U.S. News and World Report, 2021) • Eastern graduates have the ethics, problem- solving and communication skills, and ability to work in teams that you need in your organization. • 41 majors — including Accounting, Data Science, Economics, Business Information Systems, Finance, Health Sciences and more. Eastern Grads . . . www.easternct.edu Job Ready! HBJ Ad 211.indd 1 HBJ Ad 211.indd 1 7/6/21 11:54 AM 7/6/21 11:54 AM As a full-service accounting firm, we offer a depth of assurance, advisory, and tax services comparable to what national firms provide, but with the undivided attention and care for detail that we would expect for our own ventures. Contact us today to see Contact us today to see how we can help you rest assured. Does your CPA firm make you feel like this? FMLCPAS.com | 860-657-3651 Glastonbury • New Haven • Enfield• Stamford Stafford Springs A slowdown of orders forced the company to reduce hours by 40% for about a year, Operations Manager Lisa Raulukaitis said. All of the company's approximately 20 employees participated in the Shared Work Program for a year beginning in spring of 2020, and the company didn't make any layoffs, she said. "[Without Shared Work] we would have had layoffs, and then we would have missed deadlines," Raulukaitis said, noting the company is no longer using the program, and business has mostly bounced back. Pegasus isn't currently using the Shared Work Program either, said HR manager Beaulieu. But layoffs would have been damaging to the company, since the employees they have are highly skilled, and not easily replaced. Long-term shortage persists Zane said as companies continue to recover from the pandemic, the manufacturing industry's workforce shortage is still a significant problem. She said it might make sense for the state to look at using other public resources to address the issue. State officials are planning to bolster manufacturing workforce development efforts in coming weeks, said Kelli-Marie Vallieres, who leads the year-old Connecticut Workforce Unit. Just as CARES Act funds were used to underwrite the shared work expansion, federal dollars will also help fund a new manufacturing workforce development effort, Vallieres said. "With regards to manufacturing training programs … we're about to launch a program that will utilize the $70 million of [federal stimulus funds] that have been given to the office of workforce training," Vallieres said. "We plan to make a significant investment there." Vallieres declined to provide further details, but said her office will likely make an announcement later this month. Flaherty at DOL said data show graduates from Connecticut's technical high schools and community college manufacturing training programs have been successful in securing employment at local manufacturers. He agreed that expanding state-backed job training programs could go a long way toward filling vacant industry jobs. "The manufacturing training programs we have now are working extremely well and maybe the solution [to manufacturing workforce shortages] is more of them," Flaherty said. CT manufacturing industry employment Month No. of jobs Jan 2020 160,800 Feb 160,900 Mar 160,100 Apr 148,200 May 150,600 Jun 151,900 Jul 151,300 Aug 151,500 Sep 152,000 Oct 151,400 Nov 151,600 Dec 152,900 Jan 2021 152,100 Feb 152,100 Mar 152,200 Apr 151,600 May 152,300 Jun 151,300 Jul 151,700 Aug 152,800 Source: CT Department of Labor