What kind of employees do Chesterfield County businesses need? The latest employment data from the S.C. Department of Employment & Workforce Business Intelligence Department shows that as of October 23rd, there were 391 job openings and 690 unemployed people in the county (November’s data is incomplete for job openings). The top 5 categories of open jobs were:
Production Workers, All Other (51-9199) 29
Retail Salespersons (41-2031) 16
Industrial Engineers (17-2112) 14
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers (41-1011) 13
Managers, All Other (11-9199) 13
Within the top 20 Occupational Openings, not one is for food service positions. Therefore, one has to ask, “Why has NETC set up a program for a Food Truck Culinary Program?”
It might be nice to know how to run a food truck, but shouldn’t NETC be concentrating time, talent, and capital on developing job seekers who can fill the open positions in the businesses currently in the county? Further, wouldn’t it be advantageous to create more individuals with the skills to bring higher-paying jobs to the county, thereby allowing Chesterfield County to promote a well-educated workforce to potential new companies? This would enable Chesterfield County to compete with other South Carolina counties regarding industry relocations and new start-up opportunities.
It is long past the time to reevaluate the current leadership of NETC. It seems that their vision for the long term is not going to meet the needs of the county.