Adapting and Thriving with today’s workforce

Last Wednesday, Associate Dean of NKU’s Haile College of Business Dr. Abdullah Al Bahrani opened the 7th Annual Employer Best Practices Symposium with a keynote address examining the preparedness of incoming workers to fill available jobs. He highlighted the following points:

· “Nobody wants to work” is a common complaint he hears from employers. Hiring managers complain that 20-40% of recent college graduates are unprepared for jobs. Ironically, Dr. Al Bahrani showed example news clips from the 1890s through today in which employers voiced the same sentiment, so this is not an unprecedented perception by employers.

· A staggering 94% of hiring managers avoid hiring Gen Z workers, those young people born between 1997 and 2015. Or they hire and then fire Gen Z workers because they don’t perform to expectations.

· Per Dr. Al Bahrani, Gen Z displays the “audacity of choice” in their career decisions, meaning:

o Economically, they are an insulated generation in that they have never experienced a significant economic downturn, apart from a brief recession due to COVID in 2020.

o It’s been a worker’s market since 2020. There are more available jobs than there are workers to fill them. Gen Z can and have job hopped as a result.

· Retaining Gen Z workers requires employers to articulate a clear career growth plan. Young workers want to know how the company will invest in their continued skill development and what opportunities they can expect due to their increased competencies.

· “What if your company wasn’t here tomorrow?” Dr. Al Bahrani asked, “What difference would that make in our community?” This is an important question for employers to ask themselves because young workers want to understand the value and purpose of their work. While they are interested in earning a good wage, they have proven they will choose work-life balance and a purpose-filled career over salary alone.

· Employers' biggest complaint remains the skills gap. To bridge the gap, Dr. Al Bahrani stressed that the education system cannot remain siloed.

o Currently, he said K-12 education largely occurs apart from post-secondary education, which in turn typically does not include employers in the process. Instead, all levels of education should be integrated to instill skill development throughout a student’s development, as illustrated below from his presentation:

An image showing overlap between levels of education and employement

The good news is that for nearly a year now, NKY Works has been gearing up to provide the opportunities and connections that Dr. Al Bahrani recommends.  NKY Works encourages and facilitates employers to get involved in the K-12 system by providing work-based learning opportunities that help students explore careers throughout their entire educational experience.  These are connections that can bridge the world of school to the world of employment for both students and employers. 

Dr. Al Bahrani’s full presentation is available through his blog, which shares weekly economic insights. Subscribe to this free resource here or follow him on LinkedIn.

After Dr. Al Bahrani’s address, registrants participated in roundtable discussions addressing various workplace issues, including AI, recruitment challenges, mental health, and more. The NKY Chamber of Commerce hosted the event, which was organized by the NKY Works Employer Best Practices Committee.

To get involved with the NKY Works Employer Best Practices Committee or one of our other four focus areas, contact us at 859.657.WRKS (9757) or email NKYWorks@NKADD.org. Using the same contact information, NKY Works can also address your specific workforce challenges.