Workforce Development

Employers generally recognize that their employees are their single most important resource. Subsequently, they often provide formal and informal opportunities for their staff to develop professional and technical expertise. What they may not recognize is that “workforce development” has morphed to mean more than simply enhancing employee expertise — and for good reason. The level of preparation, a modern set of personal values, and individualized career expectations of the “new” workforce are different from historic norms for engineering and allied fields. Further, while there's enough of a dynamic to cause workforce instability, there's an increasingly short supply of those entering the profession.