Employers collaborate during “Workforce Development Symposium” at Williams-Brice Stadium

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — More than 300 people from multiple employers across the state attended a “Workforce Development Symposium” Tuesday morning at the Founders Zone inside Williams-Brice Stadium.

Hosted by the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the organizations report approximately 80,000 unfilled jobs across South Carolina.

Their combined symposium included Governor Henry McMaster and guest speakers from Volvo, ICF, and Total Comfort Solutions — who gave ideas on how to more effectively build a company’s workforce.

“Just imagine if we could fill those 80,000 jobs. That would create billions more in economic activity, so that’s the challenge that we’re here to discuss today,” says Bob Morgan, President of the SC Chamber of Commerce.

Barriers to work will continue to be addressed, says Morgan,  including transportation in rural areas and the cost and availability of child care.

“When we convene federal lawmakers, when we talk to state policy makers, everybody is trying to figure out ‘What is the fix for child care?’ Might there be a tax credit for companies that offer child care support? That’s an idea we’re kicking around. And I suspect you will see the child care issue addressed in the 2024 legislative session. Don’t know what the specifics of that will be but it’s an issue that’s going to get worse  — before it gets better,” says Morgan.

SC DEW’s Chief of Staff, William Floyd, says other collaborative discussions include 2nd chance hiring for inmates, and ways to retain military service members and provide more opportunities for Veterans throughout the state.

“Working together, his cabinet agencies, other government partners, other employers, the educators, we’re all coming together to tackle this big issue, or these big issues. Because no one has ‘the’ answer, but many of us coming together can identify strategies to tackle these big objectives,” says Floyd.

According to Governor McMaster, South Carolina’s unemployment rate remains one of the lowest in the Southeast, reported at 3.1% in July.

“A lot of the young people, they don’t realize what’s out there. And that’s why we encourage them to go to these technical colleges, go to these job fairs. Commerce has them. Dew has them. They’re all over the place. If they see some of the things that are available, they’d light up like lightbulbs, and they want to be involved. But they don’t know about them. So we’re trying to be sure that that inspirational message gets out there to them. Because we’ve got the people, they’ve got the right kind of attitude, we just have to get them online and working,” says McMaster.

SC Works will hold its annual Midlands Career Fair on Wednesday from 10 am to 1 pm at Dutch Square Center on Bush River Road — with over 80 corporations in attendance.