Aging workforce may lead to labor crisis in Huntington and northeast Indiana

Some of the report’s findings were of particular note given the recent developments with the Huntington County Community Learning Center. The center is at more than half of its $1.3 million goal in order to create a comprehensive learning facility that would help train individuals in many of the occupations and industries listed in the report as being in danger of losing a sizeable chunk of their workforce.

The center was said to focus on healthcare and industrial/mechanical careers, according to a presentation at the Huntington County Community School Corporation Board of Trustees meeting Aug. 25.

The Northeast Indiana Works report listed medical secretaries and registered nurses as having near or above 25 percent of their labor within a decade of retirement age. Maintenance and repair workers along with machinists were also showing that nearly one in four of every worker was approaching or at the age for retirement.

Also of note was the number of educators who could be lost due to retirement. The Northeast Indiana Works report had both primary and secondary education teachers as having a population close to retirement of roughly 29 percent for both positions.

Northeast Indiana Works Director of Communications Rick Farrant addressed what the data means for Huntington and northeast Indiana.

“You really have two things working against each other,” Farrant said, “You have the prospect that a sizeable portion of your experienced and skilled workforce will be leaving, and on the other end of the spectrum you have a lot of employers having a difficult time finding skilled workers.”

“What we need to do is to continue to form alliances between education and industry sectors to make sure that training and education matches up with the current and future demands of employers.”

Huntington County Economic Development Director Mark Wickersham spoke about what Huntington is doing to prepare for a retiring workforce.

“In Huntington County our industries are continually concerned about finding, and sustaining long-term, a quality workforce,” Wickersham said. He mentioned the development of the learning center as being one of the ways that Huntington is pushing to keep a strong pool of workers, stating that the center will have “a tremendous impact” on the county’s ability to maintain skill sets.

“Our challenge is to make sure that we’ve done our best in keeping the talent pool moving forward to sustain those opportunities long term for our county,” Wickersham said.

Wickersham also spoke specifically on what he took away from the Northeast Indiana Works report.

“The report as I understand it does a good job at explaining what our concern is,” Wickersham said. “What I think is more important is to understand that the region is responding in numerous ways to meet those challenges.”

“We’re ahead of the game, not behind, and we’re doing our best to maintain our competitive edge,” Wickersham remarked.

“The region is responding,” Wickersham said. “What you’re seeing in the data is simply the reason why we need to (respond).”