Re:PEPIN County Dialogue - Issues

 Youth leaving the high schools need more job preparation skills (timeliness, etc.)
 Youth currently leaving the schools are being prepared for post-secondary education, and not necessarily work – they need more job preparation skills
 There is currently limited worker availability for many positions in the county
 Available workers need more training
 There is a different work ethic among young adults today
 Fewer youth are working in part-time jobs today (however, more seem to have access to automobiles)
 Youth are leaving high school with an idea of “where they’re headed”, or what they’ll do, unless they are planning on post-secondary education (college or technical college)
 There is a general lack of respect and responsibility among young workers
 There is a lack of discipline in the schools (youth with discipline problems tend to head into the workforce rather than on to school)
 Youth would benefit from more cooperative arrangements between schools and employers to learn about work expectations
 Communities are not helping youth develop a sense of pride and place among their youth
 Too few youth are interested in jobs involving physical labor (agriculture, construction, production, etc.) New and better equipment is now available to make jobs more safe and easier to perform
 There are limited “rungs” on local “career ladders”
 Local wages don’t always support the cost of living
 There is a lack of affordable housing in the area
 Part-time work is not being encouraged among older workers (who tend to be mature and reliable)
 We need more “homemakers” in the workforce to set an example for young workers
 Employers need to find ways to attract and retain older workers
 Employers need to “re-access” retirees
 There is a lack of affordable child care (based on local wages)
 There are local waiting list for “quality” child care
 There is a lack of available child care for children ages 0 – 2
 Shift-based child care is not available