Need for proper training stressed to help fill jobs in Southside

HENRY COUNTY (WSLS 10) - The Martinsville company Radial, formerly known as eBay, is currently looking to hire 1,600 seasonal employees and is willing to train them because the company understands not everyone may have the skills needed.

Virginia Workforce Centers in Southside say the disconnect between the training needed and the training people have is one factor that may be causing some people to give up on finding a job and consequently causing many jobs in the area to go unfilled.

Lisa Fultz, the executive director of the Virginia Workforce Development Center in Martinsville, said the biggest challenge right now is getting people in the door to get the help they need to apply for the jobs, specifically manufacturing jobs, that are available right now.

"Manufacturing is completely different than it was a couple of decades ago," Fultz pointed out. "People do need a higher education level or at least an aptitude to be trained to do some more advanced manufacturing."

On Friday, Governor McAuliffe said 36,000 high paying jobs are available across Virginia because people don't have the math and computer skills they need to do the jobs.

Radial has been able to avoid that problem, for the most part, thanks to the company's willingness to train its employees.

"We have a very robust training program," said Kim Glisson, Radial's director of operations in Martinsville.

Even so, Glisson emphasized that basic math and computer skills will likely only become more important in the future and therefore she encourages anyone looking for a job to get these skills.

According to Governor McAuliffe, if people seek out help from places like the workforce center and these jobs and the others around the state get filled, $100 million could be generated in state taxes.

"The hands-on assistance that people receive at our workforce center, from all of our partners, helps them to be ready to go out into the workforce," Fultz explained.

And with more and more baby Boomers retiring every day, it is becoming increasingly critical to get younger generations trained to take over.