At a recent staff meeting, the icebreaker was to share your first job. I was curious to hear where our teams workforce journeys started, beyond babysitting or cutting lawns.
People shared a range of experiences, from fast food to corn shucking to camp counselor. My first “real” job was at Jets Pizza. Taking orders, running the register, making salads. Although it didn’t feel like it at the time, it was a pivotal moment as my first foray into what it means to be employed.
We all started somewhere and being in workforce development means meeting people wherever they might be on their employment path. Considering that the average American spends one third of their life working, it’s a journey to say the least and one that is not typically linear and ordered. T
here are beginnings (like Jets Pizza) but there are also detours, off-ramps and on-ramps. Work is more than a paycheck. It provides identity, purpose and a connection to the community.
At Northwest Michigan Works! we strive to help workers find that purpose. One way we do this is by publishing the Hot Jobs Report. Our region’s job growth is outpacing the state and there is a number of opportunities for local residents to build meaningful, lifelong careers.
The Hot Jobs Report provides information on wages, and education and training pathways for careers that are in-demand in our region and are projected to stay that way until at least 2032.
Based on current labor market information and regional workforce insights, the report is a useful tool for helping job seekers, educators, and employers better understand opportunities in the regional labor market. Supporting both individual success and regional economic growth is at the core of workforce development.
Tools like the Hot Jobs Report, as well as policies that support workers and employers alike, contribute to a healthy economic ecosystem. We are proud to be part of that ecosystem, one that elevates not only our region but the state; earning Michigan the status as a Midwest and national leader in workforce development.
Last year, Michigan provided employment services to more participants than any other state in the Midwest and was #3 in the nation for helping adults get employed. Northwest Michigan Works! worked hard to do our part, helping more than 1,300 people get trained for in-demand careers and working with over 1,500 youth, many of them taking those first steps on a meaningful career pathway.
This work isn’t done in a silo. Employer partnerships drive our in-demand service delivery model, working hand-in hand with local businesses to design programming and training that matches actual, real-time employer needs.
It’s that bridge building effort, between job seeker and employers, that our teams do every day that charts a path. A path that is tangible, meaningful and contributes to, what I feel is, the true purpose of work: helping individuals thrive so our communities can also. So whether you started out as a dishwasher or office errand runner, every career path provides the opportunity for purpose and connection.
We are here to help and meet you wherever on that path you may be.
For more information and to find a copy of the Hot Jobs Report visit nmwiworks.org.