What does the skills gap really mean for Charlotte career seekers?

HomeWhat does the skills gap really mean for Charlotte career seekers?

What does the skills gap really mean for Charlotte career seekers?

Employers across the country are finding it increasingly difficult to find job candidates that have the right skills for employment.  In the Charlotte area, industries such as manufacturing and construction are struggling to find workers who have even basic production skills. Despite the industry’s strong projected growth in Charlotte, the hospitality sector is also experiencing a labor shortage with hotels and restaurants being unable to recruit workers for food service, housekeeping, and administrative positions. Additionally, Charlotte was passed up by Amazon for its second headquarters location because of a lack of skilled IT workers.

While employers continue to constantly acknowledge the skills gap; jobseekers and educators may find it problematic to identify exactly what skills are in demand. The necessary skillset for a job varies significantly by employer and learning all of the necessary skills in just one industry can be cumbersome. The broadening scope of the phrase “skills gap” is enough to leave jobseekers wondering that the skills gap really means for their career search.

To help Charlotte residents that are seeking careers, we have created a guide that shows what skills are in high demand in the industries facing the biggest skills gap: manufacturing, construction, information technology (IT), and hospitality. The guide shows a break-down of the types of skills. It shows what specialized industry skills are most requested by employers, along with the digital and soft skills they are seeking. The most commonly requested skills are project management, Microsoft Office, communication skills, and teamwork or collaborative skills.

Charlotte Works offers a variety of services to help career-seekers learn or brush up on skills needed for the workforce. Our Working Smart program, offered weekly at our NCWorks career center, was developed in coordination with employers to train local talent on the soft skills most pertinent to their needs. We also offer grants to employers looking to upskill their current employees in a variety of skillsets. For qualified career-seekers, we offer training scholarships and a number of training programs in areas such as project management, Microsoft Office, customer service, software development, and more.



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