Full Citation
Title: Strengthening Our Workforce from Within: Adult Educations Role in Furthering Economic Growth in Greater New Orleans
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2013
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Abstract: Todays adult workers need a broader and stronger set of skills than they have in the past, and they must continually update their skills if they are to adapt to rapidly evolving technologies and industries. Literacy skillsincluding reading, writing, numeracy, and computer skillsare the foundational skills workers need to respond to this changing environment. And soft skills, including social skills and work habits, are becoming increasingly important as many jobs require direct interactions with consumers or teamwork to solve complex problems. Two recent studies from the Brookings Institution found that there is a gap between the skills required by jobs (including job openings) in the New Orleans metro and the skills supplied by the metro labor pool. Improvement of K-12 education is essential in addressing this problembut will take decades to fully take effect. For example, in New Orleans, even if theres a significant in-migration of young professionals, fully two-thirds of the citys 2025 labor pool will be adults who are already working-age New Orleanianswell past the reach of K-12 schools.The best available data suggests that 27 percent of New Orleans current working-age population are low-skilled and likely low-literate. While New Orleans has a smaller share of low-skilled working-age adults than cities like Memphis and Detroit, New Orleans has a significantly larger share of low-skilled adults than cities like Raleigh and Washington, D.C.Meanwhile, the New Orleans regional economy continues to shift toward knowledge-based industries with middle- and high-skilled jobs projected to account for over half of all job openings by 2020. Strengthening and targeting workforce development efforts toward current job openings and growth industries will be key to reducing the regions current and future skills gap. High level economic development leadership can bring together employers in emerging industry clusters with education institutions, training providers, support service providers, and Workforce Investment Boards to identify and solve specific workforce challenges. Importantly, these industry-led alliances can advocate for new ways to make use of a broader range of funding streams to accomplish their goals. With shrinking government coffers, it will take pooling of more flexible dollars to address workforce training needs. Importantly, this work will require a sustained leadership commitment, because there are no quick fixes. Other regions have recognized the importance of making workforce skill building among their highest priorities with impressive results. There is no doubt that New Orleanians, working together, can accomplish the same.
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Authors: Ortiz, Elaine; Plyer, Allison; Sellers, Susan
Publisher: Greater New Orleans Community Data Center
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration
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