It is a privilege to be in the business of matching great people with great jobs as we support our Creatis clients across the Twin Cities. Our success – and that of our clients – is dependent on having a deep pool of well trained, diverse, experienced and AVAILABLE job seekers ready to join our teams.
And as an employer in Minnesota – I have to say that I am worried.
By 2024, it’s projected that Minnesota will have 400,000 jobs that require skill and education beyond high school that will go unfilled. Today, in fact, Minnesota has a labor shortage for almost 100,000 jobs across all business sectors with evidence that these shortages will increase as more baby boomers retire and the overall growth of our population stagnates. And, the disparities in Minnesota are some of the worst in the nation for workers from communities of color and American Indian communities in terms of access to training and finding the right employment.
And it’s not going to get better all by itself. It will take all of us uniting together to improve the workforce system so that all individuals in our community can thrive.
Which is why I’m so pleased that Creatis is joining forces with Greater Twin Cities United Way to promote their Jobs For All campaign. This campaign not only further educates all of us on our growing labor shortage and the gaps in our workforce system – but also raises money for proven local job training programs.
As part of our Creatis Cares program, which is our way of giving back to our community and making a difference in the lives of those we serve, Creatis is proud to offer a $5,000 matching fund for the Jobs For All campaign. I encourage you to give generously and give often.
And the Creatis team is also pleased to give of our time and talents through active volunteering in the coming months focused on helping job seekers prepare for and find employment. We have launched a 20for20 volunteering effort – committed to doing 20 hours of volunteering in honor of Creatis’ 20th anniversary which we are celebrating this year.
We are also looking forward to participating in the upcoming The Future is Now – Preparing Minnesota’s Workforce for a Thriving Tomorrow event taking place at the American Swedish Institute on March 22. Join me and other business professionals and community leaders as we explore workforce and economic trends that are critical to our collective long-term success.
Live United. Give United. That was my mantra when I led the marketing team at GTCUW several years ago and it remains true today. Every day I see how meaningful it is for someone to have a job that leverages his/her skills and talents. It can be truly life-changing not only for that person but also for his/her entire family.
I also live by the belief that those to whom much is given, much is required. Each of us who has been blessed with some talent, success or wealth has an obligation to share this with others even if what you can give is small.
Because individually we can each do something, but UNITED we can change our workforce system and do AMAZING things to ensure that every employer – including Creatis – has qualified and available job seekers ready to join our team when we need them.
Won’t you join us?!
Kathy Hollenhorst is the president and CEO of Creatis. Prior to that role, she was SVP of Marketing at Greater Twin Cities United Way. Learn more about Kathy.
Learn more about United Way’s Jobs for All initiative.
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