An Educational Needs Assessment of Workforce Supply and Readiness in Maine's Forest Products Industry

A combination of youth out-migration and lack of in-migration have led to an aging workforce and population decline in Maine, whereas simultaneous declines in pulp and paper demand and biomass utilization have had negative impacts on the perceived future of the once-dominant forest products industry. These changes may increase uncertainty among employers as to the availability and training of the next generation of forest industry workers. This study reports our findings from an analysis of workforce supply and readiness in Maine's forest products industry. To estimate possible gaps in skills and work culture, we administered a survey to current forestry students and employers in the forest products industry. Skills were assessed in three domains: soft skills, knowledge skills, and technical skills. Our gap analysis focused on the difference between the stated importance of skills to employers and the current level of skill knowledge in the workforce across all three domains. Employers identified dealing with change, motivating personnel, negotiating contracts, problem solving, and financial analysis as the top educational needs. In addition, we assessed the willingness of students to accept the culture of work within the forest products industry. Despite the anecdotes shared by employers, we did not find significant evidence of a work culture mismatch between current students and their potential future employers. We recommend that gaps related to regulations, certification standards, or log scaling be addressed through workshops or on-the-job training, whereas areas such as customer relations, marketing, or problem solving could be emphasized in academic curriculum.