Darwin McDaniel
Northrop Grumman Chairman Wes Bush and University of Maryland, Baltimore County, President Freeman Hrabowski have said students need an increased awareness of the opportunities and skills required for an occupation in the private sector on in the government.
Bush and Hrawbowski discussed how a company-university partnership could help address the shortage of skilled workers during a recent interview with CNBC correspondent Kayla Tausche at the “Driving Talent and Innovation in the Capital Region” event hosted by the Greater Washington Partnership and Business Roundtable.
“There is a required culture change in universities,†Hrabowski said. “The key for us is that people need to know what’s expected when they go to work.â€
Bush added the modern workplace requires students to be “digitally professional†and companies should collaborate in credentialing graduates to make a bigger pool of candidates.
“The light bulb that went was if we work together, we can raise the tide, increase the pool of all of the candidates,†he said.
To date, there are 200K job openings in the greater Washington area, but only 25,000 people are coming in, Hrabowski said. He then called for increased training for students to fill vacant jobs.
Bush said the industry should work to increase the number of students getting digital credentialed to address a workforce gap.
Hrabowski noted he hopes the partnership between universities and companies would one day make Washington one of the innovation hubs of the country.
