Idaho is expecting a “significant labor shortage” by the year 2025, state Professional-Technical Education Director Dwight Johnson told legislative budget writers this morning. From 2015 to 2025, Idaho’s workforce, aged 16 to 64, is expected to grow by about 55,000 people. But the number of jobs is expected to grow by 118,000. “Idaho faces a workforce gap of approximately 63,000 jobs by 2025,” Johnson said.

Last year, Idaho post-secondary PTE programs, which include 30 programs in health care, information technology, manufacturing and transportation, graduated 542 students, with 100 percent job placement; there are more than 850 students now on waiting lists. The programs are at Idaho’s three community colleges, Eastern Idaho Technical College, Lewis-Clark State College and Idaho State University, and range from dental hygiene and occupational therapy to web design, tool machining, welding and aircraft maintenance.

“Employers are struggling to find qualified workers with the right skills to fill those jobs,” Johnson told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. “We have a skills mismatch in certain occupations.”

That’s what’s behind Gov. Butch Otter’s proposal for a significant increase – 10.4 percent – in state funding for PTE next year. That’s a $5.9 million increase. The biggest piece of that is a $3.8 million push to expand capacity for post-secondary PTE education in targeted fields, including adding the equivalent of 38 new state employees.

The expansion would mean an additional 410 students graduating from PTE programs each year – a 76 percent increase – and a 48 percent reduction in current student waiting lists, Johnson said. The expansion will build Idaho’s “talent pipeline,” Johnson said. “We need more PhD’s, master’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees, but we also need more technical degrees and certifications,” for the jobs of the future. “We’re passionate about professional-technical education in Idaho because we believe it is the nexus between education and employment.”