Utah has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation. Blessed with hard-working people and cheap energy, the state is attracting new companies as it grows existing ones. We are indeed the envy of many states.
But a new report from the Utah Foundation sees a crack in that armor, and it’s one that threatens to keep us from sustained prosperity.
Turning the state’s pioneer slogan on its head, the report is titled “Is This the Place?” and it is a revealing look at what Utah employers think about Utah workers. Foundation researchers surveyed 151 of them on the business and labor environment here.
The good news is that we work hard. When compared to their workers in other states, 60 percent of the employers said their Utah workers were more industrious, while only 6 percent said they were less so.
The bad news? We’re not skilled enough. Almost three-fourths (71 percent) of the employers say they struggle to find enough skilled workers in Utah. In a world where even manufacturing jobs are high-tech, software-driven positions, this is not minor.
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