Group responds to high schoolers’ lack of interest in technical careers

POCATELLO – Most high school students in southeastern Idaho aren’t interested in pursuing technical careers, and local leaders in education, business, industry and government are working to change that.

The Idaho National Laboratory is sponsoring a project for the southeast Idaho economic development coalition called YOURFIT — Your Future in Technology. A recent survey found 96 percent of high schoolers in the area showed little interest in technical fields, because they don’t know about the jobs available in their backyard.

“We were shocked that less than 4 percent of our region’s students had been given enough information to consider a technical career in eastern Idaho,” said Vaughn Rasmussen, county commissioner from Bear Lake County and chairman of the economic development organization Four-County Alliance for Southeastern Idaho, in a news release from YOURFIT.

YOURFIT identified eight career paths as high growth, high demand and high wage:

• Welding
• Instrumentation/controls
• Nuclear operation tech
• Outdoor electrical
• Machining (CNC)
• Maintenance engineers/mechanics
• Information technology GIS/CIS/cybersecurity
• Unmanned arial systems (drones)

“The median salaries for the eight selected career paths range from $34,500 to $80,600 with only two years of college study,” said Kandi Rudd, regional manager of workforce development for the Idaho Department of Labor in Pocatello.

Scott Rasmussen, Dean of Idaho State University’s College of Technology, said ISU helps fill the need for these jobs.

“I’m happy to announce that the entire first graduating class of nuclear operations technology is now employed at the Idaho National Lab,” Rasmussen said at a media conference Thursday.

Amy Lientz, director of partnerships for INL, said the INL was happy to take the proposal to fund this project.

“Like many employers in our region, one of the critical issues we face in the immediate future is to have the talent pool available to fulfill our mission,” Lientz said. “These technical careers are in demand at INL now, and will only increase as a generation of skilled workers move into retirement.”

Mayor Kevin England of Chubbuck called the YOURFIT initiative “economic development in its purest sense.”

“It’s highly unlikely that you are going to ship your new $25,000 motorcycle to India to fix the fuel injection system,” he said. “Rather, you will take it to your local skilled craftsman who is probably making more money than you are with your four-year degree.”