A recent survey reports employers in central Indiana are having a hard time finding more skilled and highly educated workers. Some Indiana companies are helping to shape the talent pool they want.
Nicole Otte is the director of workforce development for Endress+Hauser USA in Greenwood — a company that helps streamline industrial processes. She said the company started building its talent pipeline 10 years ago. It hosts internships, apprenticeships and programs that help students learn more about the industry.
She said if Endress+Hauser didn’t support their talent, it would impact the quality of their business.
“We wouldn't have the quality of technical or subject matter expertise in the organization that we do today," Otte said.
Otte said it's important for business leaders to be connected to their talent pipeline because, if not, they will have to seek talent from other places. She said Hoosier businesses can start small with an internship and develop more opportunities over time.
READ MORE: New survey: Employers say they need more skilled, educated Hoosier workers
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Other businesses said they attract and retain talent by offering higher wages and better benefits, setting career goals with employees and helping achieve them —something Core Managed implements into their workplace.
Jon Wright is Core Managed's CEO. He said when the IT consulting company is able to retain quality talent, it makes the business more productive.
“We've had years where we went an entire year with almost no turnover, and those were our best years, and we had the happiest clients, and we had low stress because we weren't constantly training people,” Wright said.
He said having underskilled workers wastes time and money. Wright said it takes up to nine months to train a new employee and if they end up not working out, that’s months of invested wages.
Timoria is our labor and employment reporter. Contact her at tcunningham@wfyi.org.