Manufacturers, city leaders and others toured the newly renovated Hutchinson High School Wednesday as part of the Hutchinson Economic Development Authority’s Skilled Workforce Development Summit.

Luke Greiner, regional labor market analyst for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, gave updates on labor force trends. “We have jobs and can’t fill them,” Greiner told the 40 or so attendees.

During the 1970s and ’80s, Minnesota added about 40,000 workers annually. Now it is adding 12,000, a number that is expected to shrink to 5,000 as baby boomers retire. If more Minnesotans age 65 or older don’t continue working, the state’s workforce might shrink, Greiner said.

Hutchinson High School is among the schools that are leading the way by preparing young people for jobs, he said. More than two-thirds of graduates won’t need four-year college degrees. The key, he said, is to get kids in 10th grade and younger to think about their post-high school years earlier.

Greiner presented data that showed:

Most students in 10th grade already have their minds made about what they will do after high school.
61 percent of high school graduates go on to a four-year school.
Minnesota already has enough college-educated residents to fill jobs that require a college degree through 2024.
The highest current workforce demand is for personal care aides, retail salespeople, teacher assistants, truck drivers and fast food workers.
75 percent of 10th-graders say they will be willing to stay in their community after high school if they can make good money there.