A recent survey released by the Siena Research Institute
showed some real good news – and bad news for Region when it comes to optimism
and workplace issues. The survey is conducted across New York State to gauge
CEO confidence and optimism and to identify issues that are hurting business.
First – the good news
CEO’s in our Region were the most optimistic of any region
in New York State as they looked forward and this is indeed encouraging and
will lead to continued job growth, if history bears true. This is fueled by the
economic development in the region from Nano tech and the supply chain that
services this business as well as the growth of small and mid-sized businesses.
And the bad news
Regulations are killing business and NYS is deemed to be
most difficult to operate a business within. In the survey, only 28% of CEO’s
said that they would remain in NYS if that had to do it all over again. That
means 72% would not have a business in the State. It looks like the campaign
and advertising strategy that NY is Open
For Business needs some work. Of course, taxes continue to be a major
problem and this has been the same for years.
And now, the concerns
CEO’s, in addition to citing taxes and regulations, are
deeply concerned over the quality and preparedness of today’s workforce. I have
heard from many employers who tell me that they cannot find the people they
need to fill open jobs and this is very concerning.
But it
goes deeper as this survey reported. In the survey, it was reported that 68% of
the region’s CEO’s found that recent job applicants have fair or poor writing
skills, and this is one level shocking but on another, understandable how this
has occurred. With the advent of digital communication and specifically
Facebook and Twitter, quality of writing skills – and spelling for sure – has
suffered.
Other
concerns they cited about today’s workforce were:
- Poor Work Ethic
- Inability to conduct effective verbal
communication
- Difficulty in following directions
- Difficulty in listening
As I
have said, we are not SmallBany anymore and our region is on the world stage.
It is clear that educators, parents and the business community must address
these issues or the lights could go out on the world stage.
While
we should be happy for the optimism in the region and I am for sure, we should
also be saddened and concerned over the state of our workforce. Knowing these
facts is just the beginning – now time to do something about it.
And thank you for reading this. - Dan
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