WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) – When John Puranasopar realized there was a serious shortage of nurses in Chicago, the critical care nurse didn't add hours or forego vacation days to work more. Instead, he quit his job.

Now, he makes triple his nursing salary by recruiting and managing highly sought–after temporary nurses for United Medical Staffing. 'We knew there was a huge nursing shortage and there would continue to be one,' Puranasopar said.

But health care, facing the deep prick of a 1–million–nurse shortfall in 2010, isn't the only industry lacking skilled labor. In a recent survey of 3,700 employers by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 50 percent of employers said it's hard to find qualified workers for their empty positions, and only 40 percent said their employees' skills meet their job requirements.

'Even though we have a (6 percent) unemployment rate none of us are happy with, the long–term trend is that we will have a worker shortage, especially skilled workers,' Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce conference on creating a skilled workforce two weeks ago.

Employers seeking to fill skilled manufacturing jobs may face the biggest challenge as the number of workers who meet their needs will fall from 33 percent to 21 percent by 2005, according the U.S. Chamber's survey.

Information technology and telecommunication employers predicted a decline from 41 percent to 33 percent while utilities, construction and agriculture companies predicted a decline from 46 percent to 35 percent in workers that meet their skill requirements. 'Certainly, we've been hearing of a shortage of skilled labor for certain occupations,' said Department of Labor economist Jon Sargeant. But he said such shortages are based on anecdotal evidence as opposed to any hard data. 'We're hearing about shortages in a lot of the skilled occupations that don't require a college degree but require considerable on–the–job training or vocational training,' Sargent said. He singled out construction as well as maintenance and repair jobs as some of those that may face shortfalls.

Specifically, CBSMarketwatch reported skilled construction jobs will be in high demand with 488,000 new jobs by 2010. Of that number, 250,000 new jobs will open for electricians and 134,000 for plumbers and pipefitters.

Help needed

Some say the government has done little to alleviate the skilled–worker shortage in a time when April's unemployment figures show 8.8 million people out of work and looking for jobs. Under the $6.6 billion Workforce Investment Act of 1998, federal, state and local partnerships set up almost 2,000 One–Stop Career Centers with 7,500 offices around the country. The goal was to replace the Job Training Partnership Act and provide a variety of job–seeking services and training under one roof. But the number of laid–off workers being served by the new program has dropped sharply. About 52 percent fewer laid–off workers received training during the first year of the new program compared with the last year of the old program, according to a February study of 14 areas in six states by the General Accounting Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress.

The Labor Department said the falloff was due to the fundamental change in the system where many of those who use the much extended services don't need training, according to Mason Bishop, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for employment and training. 'The first full year was 2000 and in that year there was lower unemployment,' Bishop said.

'Most people would just come in, get referrals and go right back into the market.' More can be done, some say Health care groups have a second opinion.

'There are pockets where [the system has] worked very well, linking up the providers and the one–stops,' said Mike Hogan of the American Health Care Association. 'For the most part that's been the exception more than the rule.'

Hogan said the centers haven't done enough to connect employers, such as health care providers, with either training facilities or the unemployed.

Only 41 percent of employers are aware the centers exist and just 19 percent actually use them, according to the U.S. Chamber's survey. The Labor Department's Bishop was quick to point out that the percentage is up from 5 percent the year before.

The solution, AHCA's Hogan said, is for the centers to build better relationships and to build them creatively.

For example, Tampa, Fla., nursing schools are turning away qualified applicants because there's a nursing teacher shortage in addition to the city's nursing shortage, Hogan said.

If the one–stop centers connected health care providers to schools to lend nurses for teaching, more new nurses could be trained and the career centers would become more effective, he said.

A less complicated case for the centers may be the shortage of certified nursing assistants, positions that require only 75 hours of training in some states. Currently, there are more than 50,000 empty assistant positions in nursing homes alone, according to an American Health Care Association study released May 7.

The Labor Department said it's working hard to help the centers understand the needs of their communities and tailor their programs appropriately. 'We've made dramatic progress,' Bishop said.

Specifically, the deputy labor secretary said, the agency created a business relations group to cultivate better ties with employers and 'bring them to the table.' Bishop pointed to the Denver–based HCA project in which the department helped a hospital management company partner with a community college. The group then streamlined the college's nursing program, reducing the amount of time it takes from 24 to 16 months.

But individual centers seem to be more concerned with serving as a job–finding resource than with training. Tracy Mitchell runs the one–stop Yonkers Employment Center in Yonkers, New York.

'We're not in the career–changing field here,' Mitchell said. Her center doesn't focus on matching the unemployed with new jobs in highly skilled fields. 'We'll help them enhance the skills they already have, but we're really trying to find them a job as quickly as possible.'

Meanwhile Congress is debating another shot in the arm for the system.

The House recently passed a bill, the Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act of 2003, that Rep. Howard McKeon, R–Calif., said would result in 'strengthening the infrastructure of the one–stop delivery system, improving accountability, enhancing the role of employers and increasing states' and local flexibility.' Critics have noted the bill would allow employers who discriminate based on religious faith to participate in the federally funded program.

The Senate will most likely debate the issue later this year, according to Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson. 'It's going to be a much harder chore in the Senate,' Secretary Chao said about getting the bill passed. She said the one–person Republican majority might not be enough to keep the Democrats from killing the bill.

While businesses complain to Congress about the lack of trained workers, the shortage isn't bad for everybody – Puranasopar of the temporary–nurses staffing agency, said his clients make about $20 to $25 an hour more than their full–time counterparts.