Preparing Pennsylvania for Tomorrow’s Jobs

We’ve all heard about the Great Resignation: employees quitting their jobs in great numbers over the last few years. But in Pennsylvania, that’s not the whole story.

The Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association, where I am executive director, has produced a series of reports to better understand the workforce conditions in our Commonwealth, with an eye toward developing responsive policies and interventions.

Our most recent report found a job market in flux. Pennsylvania’s topline economic numbers look good, with unemployment at record lows. Our Workforce Trends report found that this is consistent across all sectors. Every Local Workforce Development Area (LWDA) had a lower unemployment rate in the past 12 months ending November 2023 than in the 12 months ending just before the pandemic.

The state unemployment rate has been below the national average, too, over the last four months, thanks to swift job growth.

But under the surface, there are problems that policymakers need to take seriously.

Currently, Pennsylvania has more job openings than available workers. It’s not because young workers are leaving their jobs and starting TikTok accounts, either. We have an aging workforce and a mismatch between skills and jobs.

The tight labor market can be good for some people. It gives workers more choices and chances to get higher-paid and higher-quality jobs. But if we don’t have the right workers to fill the right positions, economic growth will suffer.

For years, we’ve heard about the state’s aging population. We’re seeing the effects now.

The pandemic likely sped up a trend that would have hit us soon anyway: many older workers leaving the workforce, with not enough younger workers to replace them.

Over the last 11 years, the only age group in Pennsylvania that has grown in population is the one closest to retirement – those aged 55 and over increased by nearly one-fifth.

Meantime, the number of Pennsylvanians of prime working age – 25 to 54 – declined by three percent from 2010 to 2021. And the 16-to-24-year-old group plummeted by 12.1%.

We’re also seeing a skills gap across workforce areas. If we don’t find solutions for that problem, it will slow our economy.

Our organization is engaging with industry to review their workforce development and hiring models while supporting jobseekers and workers in developing their skills and strengthening the pathways to good jobs. We’re doing our part.

Pennsylvania lawmakers need to keep investing in workforce training programs that are responsive to the needs of industries. We need industry partnerships that will ensure the next generation can fill workforce needs and keep our economy thriving.

We applaud Gov. Josh Shapiro’s investment in youth internships and encourage the legislature and the administration to fund youth workforce programming so that the next generation is ready for the jobs available in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association is bringing together stakeholders at the Next Generation Youth Workforce Summit. The event will convene Pennsylvania youth program providers across workforce development, higher education, and K-12, along with youth job coaches, community organizations, and other professionals who serve youth to share ideas and discover new and innovative programs, products, and services.

Our latest Pennsylvania Workforce Trends report is optimistic but highlights a need for a greater focus on youth workforce programming.

The Commonwealth’s economy is strong, but if we’re not intentional in our efforts to prepare Pennsylvanians for the workforce of tomorrow, a young and unprepared population won’t be able to reach its potential in the years ahead.

This article was originally published by RealClearPennsylvania and made available via RealClearWire.