Jabil launches registered apprenticeship program to meet workforce needs

Jabil Packaging Solutions in Mt. Pleasant is launching a registered apprenticeship program to attract new employees to the plastics industry.

The apprenticeship will be a four-year training opportunity that will set up anyone who completes the program for a career in plastics, said John Johnson, human resource manager for Jabil.

'We plan on investing in our future by investing in our people,” Johnson said. 'People who get through this program will always have a job in plastics. Plastics manufacturing can be a very niche environment. Individuals who complete this program will have thorough knowledge of plastics processing that will start a career.”

Jabil worked with the IowaWORKS Center in Burlington and the U.S. Department of Labor and Office of Apprenticeship so launch the apprenticeship program. Debra Fox, with IowaWORKS, said that registered apprenticeships enable employees to receive a national credit approved by the industry that will follow them to any job in any state.

Through Jabil's apprenticeship program, employees will attend two weeks of training at Jabil's Hypro Learning Institute in Clinton, Mass., and take some classes through SCC in addition to on the ground training at Jabil.

Apprenticeship programs are a part of Gov. Kim Reynolds' Future Ready Iowa initiative, Fox said. One of the goals of Future Ready Iowa is for 70 percent of Iowans 25 to 64 years old to have some education or training beyond high school by the year 2025.

Registered apprenticeships are included as an advanced training or educational opportunity, and Jabil's program fits perfectly within the governor's initiative, Fox said.

'It truly is an advantage for that individual to be able to gain certification,” Fox said.

Fox said with historically low unemployment rates of 2.3 percent in Henry County, a lot of people with skills are already employed. People seeking employment right now are those who don't have the education they need to get the available jobs that are out there, Fox said.

'Registered apprenticeships are an opportunity for employers to be able to hire someone immediately and help individuals gain on the ground training and knowledge,” Fox said. 'All that happens right there at the place of employment, and these people get to be employed from day one.”

Fox said that while a lot of companies are turning to registered apprenticeship, there's still not enough. Fox said IowaWORKS is finally getting to the point where businesses are becoming aware of registered apprenticeships and ready to make it happen.

Larry Todey, plant manager at Jabil, said they are accepting internal candidates for the apprenticeship first to build the program so it can become a successful recruiting tool.

Those accepted into the apprenticeship program will start at the bottom and work their way up, Todey said.

'You're going to come work for us, become a material packer, inspect parts,” Todey said. 'You're going to learn a few things before we determine if you're a good enough employee to be put into the program. We don't want people to just jump into it and all of a sudden say this isn't what they want to do.

'We want to make sure they're invested,” Todey continued. 'We want to say, ‘We think you have the potential to be a good technician, so we're going to get you in this program.'”

Todey said he started at Jabil in October 2018, and his first thought was that they need more people.

As older employees look toward retirement, Todey said they are in need of technical talent to continue operations. The apprenticeship will train new employees for those positions as they become available.

'Factory work is more skilled than it used to be,” Todey said. 'With our robots and the maintenance of machines and equipment, we need technical people to run things.”

Kristi Ray, executive vice president for the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance, said she applauds Jabil for starting a registered apprenticeship program to meet their workforce needs.

'Jabil is a wonderful company, so I'm excited to see this registered apprenticeship program take off,” Ray said in a news release. 'This is just one of the many tools that are part of the Future Ready Iowa initiative. Thanks to Jabil and IowaWORKS for all of their hard work.”