The math Brig. Gen. Douglas Farnham, the new head of the Maine National Guard, presented to lawmakers Tuesday was stark: 70 percent of 17- to 24-year-olds in Maine are ineligible for military service because of inadequate education, police records, drug use, inability to meet physical standards and obesity.
Much of this math, which plagues civilian employers as well, highlights why Maine’s workforce is too small and lacks the skills and education necessary to power the economy that Maine needs to grow and prosper. Both the military and private sector are hampered by Maine’s underskilled and undereducated workforce.
Three bills being considered by the Legislature will help, but they are only a small part of what must be an ambitious, sustained effort to improve the quality of K-12 education while also ensuring more Maine people complete technical certification programs and earn college degrees. In addition, Maine must encourage more people to move to the state to supplement its stagnant population.
To enlist in the military, a recruit must have a high school diploma, pass a fitness test and pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude test. Requirements, including weight limits, vary by military branch. The military checks criminal backgrounds, and some convictions can disqualify recruits from service. Recruits are screened for drug use. The requirements for officers are more stringent.
Just as the military is having a hard time finding recruits, civilian employers in Maine are struggling to find employees for many of the same reasons. In 2014, the Maine Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information surveyed employers about difficult-to-fill jobs. The employers reported that 70 percent of job vacancies — representing 15,400 job openings — were hard to fill.
Employers reported many jobs going unfilled because they couldn’t find qualified applicants. In general, the more education a job required, the harder it was to fill. For jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree, employers cited difficulty finding qualified applicants as the reason for job vacancies 79 percent of the time.
Employers also cited lack of experience and difficulty finding candidates who could pass required drug screenings and criminal background checks. Difficult-to-fill vacancies were most prevalent in the construction, natural resource and professional science sectors, according to the survey.
“These shortages have the potential to undermine broader economic growth,” the Associated General Contractors of Maine warned in a report last year. “As construction firms struggle to fill key positions, they will be forced to propose slower schedules for vital projects, tempering the pace of economic development.”
To address the shortfall in construction workers, the contractors association emphasized the need for more technical and vocational training. There have been similar calls to increase the number of Mainers with four-year college degrees.
By 2018, 59 percent of Maine jobs will require some form of postsecondary training, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Its analysis found that between 2008 and 2018, Maine will see 196,000 job vacancies both from newly created positions and from job openings because of retirement. Of these, 115,000 will be for those with postsecondary credentials, 70,000 for high school graduates and 11,000 for high school dropouts.
Maine is not prepared to fill that gap. In 2010, U.S. Census Bureau data show, just 37.2 percent of Maine’s 25- to 34-year-olds held a postsecondary credential, such as a four-year degree, an associate degree or a specialized skills certificate.
Bills to increase the availability of low-interest student loans and expand an education tax credit have broad support in the Legislature. These are worth considering. The University of Maine’s focus on boosting student retention is another worthwhile endeavor. But they are not enough to change the manpower shortages that Farnham and business owners face.
