wpe1.jpg (3004 bytes)

MARYLAND BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE FOR EDUCATION

 

WORKFORCE PREPAREDNESS

Maryland companies participated in the 2001 Workforce Skills Survey

The survey featured questions on hiring and employee training practices and potential state policy actions - seeking to identify employment, educational, and workforce skills issues being faced by the state's business community.  By completing the survey, companies will make educators and economic development leaders statewide more aware of the expectations business has for employees as they enter the workforce.

survey

To review the entire Maryland Workforce Educational Needs Assessment Survey
of September 2001, CLICK HERE.

Click here to read the latest press releases.

Click here to read about WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO GET A JOB IN MARYLAND

Getting today’s students ready for tomorrow’s jobs

Being prepared for the 21st century workforce means more than learning a trade. Workers must have high levels of reading, communications, math and technology skills, a commitment to excellence, a strong sense of responsibility, and the ability to learn and adapt throughout their careers.

What students learn in school -- in terms of knowledge, skills, and work ethic -- will have a significant impact on how successful they will be in life. Prospects for good jobs with good wages have never been better. But, at the same time, today’s jobs require more skills than ever before. We must make sure our students know what they need to know to get these jobs, have successful careers, and live rewarding lives.

"In the 21st century, the greatest skill will be the capacity to acquire new skills. In the new economy, acquiring knowledge will be a life-long journey, not just a destination to be reached."


Governor
State of Maryland

MBRT believes that the best role for business to play in ensuring its own good future is to work closely with schools and students, providing them with a realistic view of today’s and tomorrow’s workplace, defining the skills necessary to succeed in it, and reinforcing the correlation between high academic performance and success in the workplace.

What business needs from its workforce

In 1997, MBRT conducted and released a workforce skills survey in partnership with the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. One thousand employers participated, indicating current workforce education and skills requirements and how well workforce needs are currently being met. The survey results are available through MBRT.  To read the 1997 survey's Executive Summary, click here.

During 1998, in addition to disseminating the survey results on a wide-scale basis, MBRT began planning a follow-up survey that is currently being conducted. Partners in the 1997 survey are joined by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. The purposes for conducting this survey include:

  • Gauging changes in employer satisfaction with recent high school graduates, particularly as the new high school standards are being implemented.
  • Identifying specific academic programs and occupational areas that are in strong demand by employers and for which they have been unable to recruit sufficient applicants.
  • Keeping current on the kinds of knowledge and skills employers need of their workforce.
  • Determining critical skills shortage areas by industry and by region.
  • Reinforcing the need for business involvement with education and skills training.

Click here to review the 1999 Maryland Workforce Educational Needs Assessment Survey.

 

 
 

[Home]    [Search]    [Top]

Send mail to mail@mbrt.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1998 Maryland Business Roundtable for Education
Last modified: October 12, 2001