DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Rene Dominguez
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT:
Workforce Development Briefing
SUMMARY:
Staff and SA Works will provide a briefing the workforce development focus of the Economic Development Department for FY 2018. The presentation will highlight the partnerships underway to help meet industry need in filling open jobs that are difficult to fill and providing access to a career pathway for all residents through outcome alignment across multiple partners. The briefing will also include information on pilot projects and a forecast of focus areas for FY 2019.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Council-adopted SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan estimates that an additional one million people, 500,000 households and 500,000 jobs will be added to San Antonio by 2040. Planning for this growth includes a focus on jobs and economic competitiveness. Workforce development has come to the forefront as one of the most important strategies to serve the dual purposes of growing the economy by providing a workforce that businesses need to grow and providing opportunities for meaningful career pathways and earning potential to the residents of San Antonio.
The current workforce system faces multiple challenges. One issue outlined in the SA2020 Talent Pipeline report is that San Antonio businesses are struggling to fill middle skills jobs. Middle skills jobs are those jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor's degree. This skills shortage highlights the fact that though the unemployment rate is low, a challenge in San Antonio is the educational and skills attainment required to equip people to successfully earn meaningful employment in high demand occupations to sustain and grow the current and future economy. Additionally, the systems meant to work on these issues are continuously having to balance multiple stakeholders, funding streams, and reporting structures as barriers t...
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