SKOWHEGAN -- A partnership of public and private groups has scheduled four weeks of training sessions for the underemployed in the Skowhegan area.

The 60-hour WorkReady credential program will focus, organizers say, on the "soft," or "applied" skills that employers have indicated most Maine workers are lacking. Those disciplines include curriculum, instruction, teamwork, basic computer skills and conflict management.

The program is a partnership among the Central/Western Maine Workforce Investment Board and more than 20 Skowhegan-area businesses.

The WorkReady sessions begin on Monday, March 19. The three-hour sessions will begin at 9 a.m.

James Baumer, a business assistance coordinator with the Workforce Investment Board, said Tuesday that employers are enthusiastic about the program. The Skowhegan CareerCenter and the Aspire Program are recruiting people for the sessions, with room for up to 18.

"That's because we're providing a service employers want, and we're doing it cheaper than they can do it on their own," Baumer said.

Baumer said the Skowhegan initiative comes at a time when the labor force is at a crossroads. A similar program in Lewiston/Auburn has grown, and improved each time, he said.

"There really is a talent problem nationwide," he said. "It becomes an issue when you can't grow the economy any longer. The out-migration from the Northeast hurts, too."

During the classes, a facilitator will discuss the soft skills topics.

"We ask people what their needs are -- we even touch on personal hygiene," Baumer said. "We get folks to begin to look at the issue of why they are underemployed."

As executive director of the Somerset Economic Development Corp., Jim Batey has been talking to county employers for years. Batey mentioned teamwork, conflict resolution, showing up for work in good condition and skills such as resume-building and interviewing as examples of soft skills.

"Ever since I took this job I've heard from our employers that they have had difficulty finding people with those soft skills," Batey said. "So this could be very important."