James Sept-Oct 2021 web - Flipbook - Page 69
rior to the COVID-19 pandemic,
Georgia faced serious obstacles in
meeting its future workforce and economic development needs. Research by the
Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)
highlighted the magnitude of these challenges.
By 2030, SREB concluded, the compounding effects of
automation, a rapidly changing economy and a growing
skills gap would put Georgia in danger of losing 1.5 million of its workers and their children to unemployment or
underemployment in low-wage jobs. Without providing
these workers with the in-demand training and credentials, they found, the skills gap would not only be a
threat to an individual’s pathway to prosperity, but also
to Georgia’s long-term economic development plans.
In the midst of this looming skills gap, economic
developers also noticed a shift in the expressed priority
needs of corporations looking to relocate and invest. The
main drivers for job creation and business development
have shifted away from factors such as infrastructure and
financial incentives, such as tax credits, towards a steady
supply of high-quality talent that would meet both their
immediate and long-term workforce needs.
The intersection of a growing demand for skilled talent and the declining skills acquisition among Georgia’s
workforce is not an unforeseen development. The crisis
just arrived earlier than predicted. The Georgia Chamber
of Commerce, for instance, has been focused on the growing skills gap since 2015, when research showed an aging
workforce was on the verge of retirement. The potential
impact of this “grey tsunami” was troublesome but was
made even more devastating by the limited number of
skilled workers available to replace the retirees.
The Atlanta Committee for Progress has also been
mindful of the widening skills gap and for over 15 years
has committed to leveraging the concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the city to strengthen the schoolto-workforce pipeline and increase local residents’
access to quality jobs.
Research also showed the skills needed by tomorrow’s workers are changing more rapidly than educators
could manage. In 2012, for instance, a new job category
required a 4-year degree. By 2015, that same job category only required a 2-year degree and by 2019 only an
8-week certification. The COVID-19 related shutdowns
accelerated the pace of the already existing trends in automation, artificial intelligence, smart devices and virtual
reality, compressing the projected deadline. Consequently, SREB now estimates that 2 million Georgia workers
(45 percent of the workforce) are at risk for unemployment, reduced work hours, or exiting the labor force
altogether by 2025. The issues we once had a decade to
prepare for and adapt to will be upon us in fewer than
five years.
So, now that the crisis is here, what can we do? Georgia’s economic pipeline is fueled by its education system,
from early learning through post-secondary completion
and adult training and reskilling. And it is the education
system that will be the key to economic recovery in Georgia and across the US. However, as Georgia moves from
response to recovery and ultimately to success, it is important to take a step back and consider the longer-term
imperative to create a better system for all individuals.
Our efforts cannot simply be about “catching up”’
to pre-pandemic achievement, as this approach neither
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