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Marc Giauque reportingThe jobs are out there, but some of Utah's biggest employers say Utah is not doing enough to prepare young people for high tech careers
At the Davis Applied Technology College, about 60 students are training right now to become machinists. The instructor says if they were ready, all of his students could walk into a job today. On another part of the campus, Kerry Olafson has just jumped the final hurdle for an Associates Degree in Information Technology.
Kerry Olafson: "I took my last math test, that was all I had left."
By many accounts, Olafson shouldn't have much trouble finding a job. In fact a panel of employers recently told an economic summit, there are too few Utahns who qualify for high tech jobs. DATC President Mike Bouwhuis agrees in principal.
Mike Bouwhuis: "Two year technical degrees are very specific to the industry are limited in the state of Utah."
At the same time...
Mike Bouwhuis: "A person with a very specialized applied technology degree can do very well in the market."
Want an example? Check out the job posting at Lehi's IM Flash Technologies. While many jobs require four-year engineering degrees, many others require Associates in fields like I-T. The company's CEO says most jobs pay in the 20-25 dollar an hour range. But he says finding qualified local applicants is a challenge.
Other employers like Merit Medical's Fred Lampropoulos reportedly told the summit technology schools focus too much on enrollment, and too little on emerging technologies. DATC Vice President Jay Greaves and his colleagues disagree.
Jay Greaves: "We listen to them and then we create the curriculum to meet the current market needs. So, I think we're meeting their expectations on what they would like to have as a student leave."
Greaves says the biggest challenge isn't meeting employer's training needs. It's getting students on the four year college track interested in their programs.
