Help wanted: Responding to calls for a skilled workforce
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/17c77ff4d41fadd98bd2c7e3cc68a002/TX_Tribune_Workforce_SponsoredContent_PrimaryImage.png)
By Texas 2036
Texas 2036 is a nonprofit organization building long-term, data-driven strategies to secure Texas’ prosperity through our state’s bicentennial and beyond.
Nearly 15 million hardworking Texans show up for work each day. This is the highest number of employed people in our state’s history—a testament to the strength and resilience of Texans and our economy.
However, while our workforce reaches new heights, employers are still seeking more skilled workers. The 88th Legislature is answering this call, positioning 2023 as the “Workforce Session,” with a series of bipartisan bills that will further shape Texas into a business-friendly state where job seekers can find ample opportunities.
By prioritizing community colleges, taxpayer-funded workforce programs, apprenticeship programs and virtual learning opportunities, more Texans will be able to develop the critical skills to meet the evolving needs of employers and earn the wages sufficient to accrue wealth and achieve a good quality of life.
Community colleges
To ensure more Texans have valuable skills throughout their career, House Bill 8 introduced by Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, and sponsored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would bring millions in additional funding to Texas' 50 public community college districts.
“This bill would transform the system by investing $650 million for the 2024-2025 biennium primarily based on improvements in student outcomes and better alignment of college programs with state and regional workforce needs.”
The state’s community colleges deliver open enrollment education and workforce training to a yearly average of about 700,000 students, and they play a critical role in equipping everyone from high school to those in a career transition.
This bill would transform the system by investing $650 million for the 2024-2025 biennium primarily based on improvements in student outcomes and better alignment of college programs with state and regional workforce needs.
Currently, the rates of Texas students successfully completing a postsecondary credential of value — degrees, workforce-aligned certifications, licenses, badges and apprenticeships — are not sufficient to meet Texas employers’ needs for skilled talent.
We know by 2036, over 70% of Texas jobs will require education or training after high school, yet fewer than 30% of Texans earn a postsecondary credential within six years of graduating from high school. The time to prepare is now.
Workforce programs
Texas invests over $110 billion annually in taxpayer-funded workforce training programs, which offer Texans the opportunity to learn, upskill and reskill for jobs, a critical component of our economy.
“This optimization would ensure that participants successfully obtain jobs with better wages — and help improve programs producing worse employment and wage outcomes for Texans after exiting the program.”
HB 1703 authored by Rep. Claudia Ordaz, D-El Paso, and sponsored by Sen. César J. Blanco, D-El Paso, seeks to improve Texas' Workforce Development Evaluation System through better data collection and analysis. Updating the system would help strengthen these programs run by the Texas Workforce Commission and the state's 28 local workforce boards.
This optimization would ensure that participants successfully obtain jobs with better wages — and help improve programs producing worse employment and wage outcomes for Texans after exiting the program.
Texas is experiencing record workforce numbers, but the state’s unemployment rate is hovering at 4%. Reports indicate employers are struggling to fill open positions. This bill is one more tool to better ready our workforce.
Apprenticeships
“Apprenticeships offer students a model of learning that incorporates workplace experience and skills-intensive instruction. To bring more apprenticeship programs to Texans, this annual report would include the total number of active Texas apprenticeship programs and apprentices categorized by industry, as well as demand for apprenticeable occupations for each Texas industry.”
With the goal of expanding the availability of apprenticeship programs in emerging and high-demand industries, HB 4451 written by Rep. Salman Bhojani, D-Euless, and sponsored by Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, would require a new annual legislative report to help accomplish that.
Texas is second-to-last among its peer states in the number of active apprentices as a percentage of the total state labor force, with Washington and California surpassing us by a three-to-one ratio, according to Department of Labor numbers.
Apprenticeships offer students a model of learning that incorporates workplace experience and skills-intensive instruction. To bring more apprenticeship programs to Texans, this annual report would include the total of active Texas apprenticeship programs and apprentices categorized by industry, as well as demand for apprenticeable occupations for each Texas industry.
This information will allow the state's policymakers to assess which of its industries with the highest growth and demand can benefit from greater availability of apprenticeship programs.
Virtual learning
Building off of the work of the Commission on Virtual Education, Senate Bill 1861 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, and Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas — along with companion legislation HB 3141 by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian — would allow more Texas students access to virtual learning, creating opportunities for enrollment in advanced coursework and leveraging flexible scheduling for work-based learning and internships.
“Virtual learning holds promise as a way to provide access where advanced course offerings are historically limited, especially in rural communities, and to play a major role in driving the completion of postsecondary credentials.”
Virtual learning holds promise as a way to provide access where advanced course offerings are historically limited, especially in rural communities, and to play a major role in driving the completion of postsecondary credentials.
Innovative solutions to close access gaps, such as high-quality online programs, can help expand access for rural students across the state.
As this collection of bipartisan workforce bills come to fruition, they will help foster a thriving economy, allow for more upward mobility for more Texans and create a prosperous future for generations to come.