Woody Oge, site director for the Northrop-Grumman-Avondale Shipyard, sees the struggle first hand in his search for hiring workers. He said they’re good-paying jobs and that most don’t require a college diploma, just on the job training.

But right now, there are simply no takers.

“Here the shipyard is alone and while we may publish 200 openings, we’ve had to hire close to 600 and substitute contract laborers to make up some differences,” Oge said.

This is in part because of a retiring baby boomer generation happening nationwide. But here in Louisiana, the problems are more complex.

Businesses and people in New Orleans have new needs after Katrina.

“We have a need for over 10,000 skilled employees in multiple priority sectors, healthcare, oil, gas, energy and advanced manufacturing,” said Lisa Tomlin, director of the manufacturing and trades sector at GNO Inc.

Statistics from GNO Inc., an economic development group for New Orleans, show that 85 percent of the jobs here require less than a four year degree but more than a high school diploma. That includes family wage jobs, meaning workers make enough to provide for a family.

“We’ve got probably 70 percent of young men and women who graduate high school who don’t go to four year institutions, so there’s a huge opportunity for our future work force in this region is in middle school today,” Oge said.

There was no program that linked the skills gap and the training gap to the potential worker.

But now, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s work force development plan is expected to close the gap by using millions of dollars for work force programs in high schools, technical schools and community colleges.

Oge says the next step is educating and teaching others about the opportunities.