ASHLAND, Ky. — Tim Gibbs told Ashland Rotarians on Monday there are now more job openings than people looking for jobs in the local area.
Gibbs, president and chief executive officer of the Ashland Alliance, said he came across this information while visiting the Ashland Unemployment Career Center Office, noting a lot of the available jobs may require traveling or commuting to areas like Huntington, W.Va. and may require skills that many lack, but that there are jobs available.
“What we have is we have a mismatch between the talent of our people and the opportunities and the jobs that are out there in the area… but things are changing,” said Gibbs.
He added that the Ashland area had more jobs than the demand about six months ago.
Gibbs said the unemployment rate is 5.2 percent in Boyd County and 5.9 percent in Greenup. He added the worker participation in Boyd is 50 percent and 49 percent in Greenup.
“You got 13,000 workers in Greenup and 18,000 in Boyd,” he said.
“There is a way and there is a role for all of us to play in the alignment of our expectations, our education, our training, our everything with the jobs that are available in the marketplace,” he continued.