Monticello Live

At the end of Wednesday’s Intermodal board meeting, several members and guests had a very informative discussion about several important issues that Southeast Arkansas has, and will have, in the near future.

These topics include economic and industrial strengths and weaknesses, as well as education and skills training, and work ethics.

Specifically many of the skills needed by industry are not available in the work force in our area, at this time.

UAM’s “Pathways” program was mentioned, which tries to fit prospective students to a course of study where they will be successful, both in education/training, and in the workforce.

With Southeast Arkansas forestry and timber based economy, it was discussed how hard it is to find CDL drivers and heavy equipment operators. These specific trades can pay $100 – $150, daily.

As seen in the video, there are many concerns with today’s workforce being unable to pass drug screens, as well as the current work ethic status.

The recently voter-approved minimum wage increase to $11 is expected to reduce many minimum-wage jobs, either by automation, or by “self-service kiosks”, such as Walmart’s self check stations.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 26th, 2018 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Business, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.