When growth goals are set, every business knows they have to deal with the “leaky” bucket: finding new sources of revenue for what “leaks” away every year and must be replaced just to stay even. Well, it appears the State of Wisconsin has a leaky bucket when it comes to jobs. Although Wisconsin’s population grew a modest 6% from 2000 to 2010, as this chart shows, employment didn’t fare as well… down in fact. And an additional concern is that the Wisconsin workforce is leaking young, talented, highly educated workers.
To tackle this issue, businesses build a pipeline of new products; enough to fill the leaks + enough to cover new product failures + enough to meet the growth goals. The State of Wisconsin needs a similar pipeline strategy for it’s workforce: replace (or improve retention of) those who leave the state + replace those who voluntarily leave the workforce + enough more to cover the 250K jobs Governor Walker and his administration are shooting for. Tough task. Let’s see if Wisconsin has the strategies and execution to make it happen.
