When it comes to jobs in Connecticut, there is good news and bad news. The state added nearly 23,000 jobs last year. Unfortunately, many of those remain vacant.
According to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), there are still nearly 90,000 unfilled jobs in the state. With that, one resource the state is relying on, is the state’s technical high school system.
CBIA President and CEO Chris DiPentima explains that many of the unfilled jobs require skilled trade professionals. Because of that, he said some companies are recruiting at the high school level.
“Some of the students in the technical high school system have job offers before they’ve even finished their senior year,” DiPentima said.
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At Vinal Tech in Middletown, students were learning some of the 31 trades offered at the state’s 18 technical schools. It’s a mission, school officials say, to help solve the state’s labor shortage.
“Anyone who has tried to call for a plumber or an electrician lately, discovers firsthand that our workforce has been depleted over time,” said Dr. Ellen Solek, executive director for the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System.
But it’s not just plumbers and electricians; it's trades you may not expect. Culinary Arts is popular at New Britain’s E.C. Goodwin Technical High School as is health and medical science.
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Vinal Tech is one of the few schools to offer veterinary sciences, grooming and caring for animals. The school also offers hands-on emergency response training.
Students we spoke with said they know this is the path for them.
“In a word, it’s really fun,” Vinal Tech student Ben Fletcher said. “You are always doing something, and it just feels so much better than normal classes.”
To help preparing these students to immediately enter Connecticut’s workforce many are already participating in work-based learning programs. The programs allow the students to work as an intern, toward an apprenticeship.
More than 11,000 students make up the state’s technical high school student body. Some are already working to become certified EMTs.
“We are already trained in CPR and stop the bleed,” Vinal Tech student Kiara Cardoso-Cruz said. “That was one of the first few courses we did.”
The opportunities don’t stop there. At Vinal Tech, some carpentry students are building an actual house.
“Every single stud, every rafter, every joint in that house was built by a kid in this shop,” student Carter Cockrell said.
Erin Lee is only 16 years old, but already has work in the field. Working toward becoming an electrician Lee’s work-study program often takes her away from the classroom.
“You definitely get looks when you walk on the job site and they’re like, ‘Who is this young child?’" she joked.
As for the house being built, students are drawing a paycheck and source of pride.
“Knowing that somebody is going to actually live in it seems so cool," Cockrell said.
