Muskegon Community College to host talk tackling employment and skills crisis this Tuesday, Oct. 30

You hear it time and again: employers are looking for workers.

But West Michigan companies–like places across the country–aren’t connecting with the skilled workers they need to fill open positions. So, why is this happening? And how can we change it?

Business consultant Edward E. Gordon is coming to Muskegon Community College on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 6pm to discuss how we as a society contend with a growing jobs and skills gap across the United States. The author of “Future Jobs: Solving the Employment and Skills Crisis,” Gordon has consulted with leaders in business, education, government, and nonprofits for 50 years. His book, which landed a 2015 Independent Publishers Award, is the culmination of his five decades of consulting and tackles the complex workforce needs and economic development issues facing our region and country.

The founder and president of Imperial Consulting Corporation in Chicago, Gordon’s clients have included Fortune 500 companies, the United States Federal Reserve, universities, government agencies, and professional and trade associations.

“Gordon contends that a jobs and skills gap continues to grow across the U.S., at the same time that technology and global business practices have continuously raised the employee knowledge bar for most jobs,” Muskegon Community College writes. “But he adds that the education-to-employment system remains unchanged and asks why 30 million Americans are sitting on the job sidelines, while over nine million U.S. jobs are vacant.”

Public-private partnerships, businesses, community colleges, and nonprofits are playing starring roles in reshaping the country’s talent creation landscape to better prepare workers for those unfilled jobs, Gordon says. In our city, for example, Muskegon Community College is partnering with the West Michigan Shoreline Food Processing Initiative to train the future workforce that will be needed to fill the careers slated to be created as the food processing industry expands in the region.

Edward E. Gordon’s talk on “Future Jobs: Solving the Employment and Skills Crisis” is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Muskegon Think Tank and Muskegon Community College. The talk will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 6pm in Muskegon Community College’s Stevenson Center Room 1100. Muskegon Community College is located on the northwest corner of Marquette Avenue and Quarterline Road. For more information on the talk, please go here.