by Pat Friedlander
School counselors play a pivotal role in getting young people while making career choices. Counselors are important in the school ecosystems since they provide information to help students focus on their academic, career, and social development.
But like any specialty field, for counselors to keep up with the availability of career choices requires a steady stream of information, and that is where the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) plays an important role. Career advice can’t be stagnant. It needs to reflect what the market needs, and its needs change. So does job stability and security. The professional careers that were a go to suggestion for young people aren’t as prized as they were 25 years ago. Technology has changed our lives and our jobs while at the same time, technology has eliminated jobs.
Because the Experiential Designers and Producers Association’s (a.k.a. EDPA) Future Workforce committee wanted to educate counselors on the trades and the type of pay and security they offer, the group had an exhibit at ASCA’s annual conference. Embracing the theme, “Dream Big,” approximately 5000 school counselors attended the conference to enhance their knowledge about career opportunities for students.
Baby Boomers Retiring and Post-Covid Attrition
Recognizing baby boomer retirements and post-COVID workplace attrition, the future workforce initiative is dedicated to meeting the growing demand to fill existing and entirely new positions within the experiential space. Skilled labor, Tradespeople, carpenters, detailers, project managers, estimators, and designers are in demand in the exhibition industry, but how do we let young people know about these positions? The challenge of finding the right people for jobs available in our industry is real, but how do we attract talented and skilled professionals?
One solution that proved very valuable was to exhibit at the ASCA conference and tell school counselors about these jobs. Like so much in the exhibition industry, little is known about the demands of our workplace. The future workforce initiatives mission is to bring awareness to prospective employees about the various opportunities in our industry. Although EDPA has forged alliances with universities, it also taps the resources of trade schools, junior colleges, high school, veterans and veterans associations, and alumni associations.
The Future Workforce team held more than 200 face-to-face meetings with people from 37 states, all planning to return home to share the required information. One insight is that the attendees appreciated learning about opportunities for students who are not college-bound. The signage on the EDPA exhibit at ASCA read, 3,000,000+ jobs in the largest industry you never heard of. The future workforce initiatives is about to change that 3,000,000+ jobs can change a lot of lives.
Photo Credit: Phil Cox
