With a growing need to manufacture more products domestically and construct new housing, the manufacturing and construction industries need workers more than ever. Therefore, it’s disheartening to see the Trump Administration’s efforts to summarily close the national Job Corps program, including centers in Grafton and Devens.
The manufacturing and construction industries have been in the midst of a workforce crisis for decades. As more high school grads attended college, companies in both sectors struggled to find employees. On top of that, manufacturers in particular have fought to shed the outdated notion their jobs were low-paying, dirty, dangerous, and offered limited career growth.
With a growing need to manufacture more products domestically and construct new housing, these industries need workers more than ever. Therefore, it’s disheartening to see the Trump Administration’s efforts to summarily close the national Job Corps program, including centers in Grafton and Devens. Current legislation proposes to take the program’s funding out of next year’s federal budget, and Trump is using that as an impetus to effectively close the centers now, although a court ruling has temporarily paused that effort.
Job Corps was founded in 1964 as a place where low-income, high-risk 16 to 24 year olds receive vocational training and career pathways. The centers often partner with local industry and companies to determine the workforce needs in a region. The centers in Grafton and Devens had nearly 500 folks going through their program as of late May when the administration moved to close the facilities. Those centers have a number of business partnerships, particularly with the local manufacturing industry, and placed graduates at local companies like Wirefab, Boch Knives, and True Robotics. On top of the manufacturing and construction trades, the Central Massachusetts centers have vocational programming for at-need positions like nursing and culinary arts. The effort to shutter these places is a cutback in an area of critical need for this region’s employers.
Historically, Job Corps has a graduation rate of more than 60%, according to the National Job Corps Association, and the Devens and Grafton facilities have had a nearly 100% graduation rate in the last few years. Considering the program focuses on high-risk populations, these grad rates are quite impressive and don’t line up with the numbers Trump is peddling. Moreover, the program creates a steady stream of work-ready young people ready to help in the local industries most in need.
Job Corps is only a small piece of solving the manufacturing and construction workforce crises, but it has a vital role nonetheless. We need all hands on deck to get more skilled workers into these key industries, and any program efficiently creating well-trained workers needs to be supported.
If we are going to build America and bring more manufacturing back, we need all the workers we can get.
This editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board.
