Minnesota’s Talent Pipeline: Critical Transitions and Disparities in Workforce Development
It is hard to fully grasp just how much our world has changed since February. Today we find ourselves amid crisis on top of crisis, with a compelling combination of both health and social inequality pandemics. These crises have undeniably affected Minnesota’s economy and workforce, with over 25% of Minnesota’s workers now facing unemployment. The impacts of COVID-19, the murder of George Floyd, and all that came after are critical points of context for our society and economy, which should be considered as you reflect on the pre-pandemic data points presented below.
These intense and systemic impacts require collective action to drive equitable solutions. As a public-private collaborative focused on aligning Minnesota’s workforce, we at RealTime Talent foster systemic change by partnering with K-12 and postsecondary education, workforce and training partners, industry associations, and the public sector to ensure that all students and job-seekers have the skills and experience needed to grow in high-opportunity careers in Minnesota. By providing relevant and current labor market information, customized research, and human-centered facilitation and consulting, we encourage market-oriented, data-informed decisions to drive recruitment, development, education, and training.
Today’s blog focuses on the interdependent nature of all workforce stakeholders and lays a foundation for identifying the critical inputs, outputs, and leakages in our state’s talent pipeline. At a company level, talent pipeline management refers to building a pool of internal and external candidates ready to fill a position at a company. Building a strong talent pipeline to fill positions and grow our economy at the state level requires collective action and decision making of a full spectrum of talent providers, including educational institutions, workforce development organizations, employers, as well as economic development agencies, policymakers, and communities.
The overarching story of Minnesota’s talent pipeline starts from secondary education, leads into postsecondary, and through the existing workforce. At all points in the pipeline, there are leakages that are opportunities for intervention and advancing more equitable policies. Of course, we know that this pipeline is not linear in reality; many students work both full- and part-time, making meaningful contributions to our workforce while also learning. We also know that those who enter the workforce return to advance their postsecondary education. In addition, there are other critical components of our education and training community—such as Adult Basic Education, literacy, and industry credentialing to name a few—which are not fully captured in this illustration. Our simplified model of the talent pipeline here in Minnesota, which quantifies leakages at broadly-defined critical stages, is intended to help drive action where intervention and improvement can help eliminate disparities in attainment and potential for career advancement.
The series of three blogs linked below offer a deep-dive into each of the three large stages of our talent pipeline. Or, click here for a video presentation of this content by RealTime Talent’s Research Strategist, Erin Olson.
SOURCES: 1) Median (2015 -2019),MDE Analytics, State/District/School/County Enrollment, https://public.education.mn.gov/MDEAnalytics/DataTopic.jsp?TOPICID=2; 2) Median (2014-2018), MDE, 4-Year Graduation Rate, 2014-2018; 3) Median (2013-2017); MN SLEDS, Statewide, Graduates Working, 2013-2017; 4) MN SLEDS, Statewide, College Enrollment 2013-2017, http://sleds.mn.gov/#collegeActivity/orgId–999999000__groupType–state__ECODEVREGION–FOC_NONE__collegeActivityCOHORTID–2018__p–3; 5 & 6) Median (2014-2018)MDE 4-Year Graduation Rate; 7) Minnesota Office of Higher Education, student enrollment database. Not award-seeking and unavailable program type not shown in this graphic (85,363 additional enrolled); 8) Median (2015-2017) U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Completion Survey via MN Office of Higher Education, Degrees Awarded in Minnesota, and data found at https://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=2119; 9) Median (2016 & 2017)MN Office of Higher Education, Student Enrollment Data 2016 & 2017; 10) Minnesota Office of Higher Education, Educating for the Future, 2019 Update, https://www.ohe.state.mn.us/pdf/EducatingfortheFuture2019_final.pdf; 11) Median (2013-2017) MN SLEDS, Statewide, College Enrollment 2013-2017; 12) Minnesota Office of Higher Education & National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, Reaching 70 Percent Attainment Goal, 2020, Minnesota Office of Higher Education & National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, Reaching 70 Percent Attainment Goal, 2020 13) Median (2013-2017) MN SLEDS, Statewide students not tracked in-state, 2012-2016; 14) Minnesota Office of Higher Education, Educating for the Future, 2019 Update, https://www.ohe.state.mn.us/pdf/EducatingfortheFuture2019_final.pdf; 15) Ages18-64, 2014-2018, ACS 5-year Sample, Employment Sample, IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org; 16&17) 2014-2018 ACS 5-yr Estimates, Migration Status, IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org.; 18) Ages 25-64, 2014-2018, ACS 5-year Sample, Employment Sample, IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org; 19) 25) AGES 18-64, 2014-2018, ACS 5-year Sample, Employment Status, IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org; 20) OASDI Beneficiaries by State and Zip Code (2011-2018, Median)
Report released on 6/30/2020 by RealTime Talent on the INSIGHTS blog at www.realtimetalent.org. Contact Erin Olson, Research Strategist at erin@realtimetalentmn.org with any questions or inquiries.
