Discover: Rebuilding Talent Pipelines in Tight Labor Markets: How Towson University Is Growing Skilled Trades & Public Safety Talent from the Ground Up
- Confronting shrinking labor pools and accelerating retirements across skilled trades and public safety roles by moving beyond reactive, lateral and traditional hiring models that no longer deliver sufficient qualified applicant pools or long-term retention in competitive metropolitan labor markets
- Launching a two-pronged workforce development strategy by creating dedicated outreach to local high schools and early career candidates, exposing students to skilled trades and campus law enforcement careers while pairing hands-on experience with eventual access to affordable education pathways through the University
- Delivering measurable hiring and retention impact by combining early pipeline development with a tiered employee referral bonus model that rewards employees for referring qualified candidates who are eventually hired , increasing applicant pools by 10–15% in hard to fill roles and achieving strong early retention, with the majority of referred hires remaining beyond six months and one year, proving the value of long-term, community anchored talent investment