Hi, State Senator Dan Feyen here.
Help wanted signs hang in business windows all across Wisconsin as employers struggle to fill open jobs. A recent survey of Wisconsin businesses indicated the worker shortage is the biggest challenge facing employers with 86% reporting difficulty finding workers to fill job vacancies.
It is no secret that Wisconsin’s workforce has shrunk as older workers are retiring and Wisconsin’s population growth lags behind the rest of the upper Midwest.
Two years ago I authored a bill that required the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to develop a talent recruitment and retention program that would attract more people to Wisconsin and bolster our workforce. The state budget, passed last July, included $3 million dedicated to talent attraction and retention, yet, WEDC still has not implemented the program. Assembly Bill 940 requires WEDC to begin developing a plan and submit the plan to the Joint Finance Committee within 30 days of the bill becoming law. Next week, the Senate will pass this bill sending it to the governor’s desk for final approval.
Our businesses desperately need more workers now. The worker shortage problem needs to be fixed sooner rather than later if we want to guarantee a strong and prosperous future for our state.
