Florida Chamber Foundation’s New Jacksonville Metro Skills Report Identifies and Evaluates Workforce Skills Gaps in the Jacksonville Metro Market
Healthcare, Business/Finance, IT/Math, and Architecture/Engineering are four of Jacksonville’s in-demand career areas facing significant skills gaps
TALLAHASSEE, FL (July 14, 2021)— As Florida’s economy continues to grow and diversify, talent is key. Florida currently has more jobs looking for people than people looking for jobs. Solving our future talent needs now is the right path. In Florida, we have 528,300 open jobs looking for people and only 503,000 Floridians actively looking for jobs. Future economic development and diversification depends on matching the right skills with the right job opportunities. Targeting workforce development to regional skills gaps in high wage potential in the Jacksonville region— consisting of Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau and Baker Counties— the Florida Chamber Foundation has unveiled its Jacksonville Metro Skills Report, which completes and evaluates the balance between skillset supply and demand in the Jacksonville metro market.
“Employers in the Jacksonville region need to create approximately 164,457 net new jobs by 2030 to prepare for the region’s future growth and opportunity,” said Florida Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Mark Wilson. “As the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Florida 2030 Blueprint works to grow Florida from the 17th largest to the 10th largest economy in the world by 2030, Florida’s workforce needs to continue evolving to meet the needs of the future of Florida and its job creators.”
In June, the Florida Chamber Foundation unveiled the Florida Workforce Needs Study – a first-of-its-kind state analysis addressing skills gaps and opportunities that exist in the Florida workplace, providing a comprehensive look at the skills Floridians need in order to have upward or even lateral mobility in over-skilled occupations, and potentially transition to in-demand occupations that have more demand than supply as well as higher wages. The Jacksonville Metro Skills Report is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)- specific breakout report of the Florida Workforce Needs Study created so Jacksonville workers and stakeholders can understand the competencies and skills that align with the active and unmet demand of Jacksonville’s job creators.
“It is essential for Florida’s education system to understand and teach toward the in-demand and emerging skillsets of Florida’s economy,” said Florida Department of Education’s Henry Mack, Chancellor for Workforce Education. “The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Florida Workforce Needs Study helps us understand the competencies and skills that align with Florida’s job creators, which helps in the creation of educational opportunities to best prepare Floridians for higher, life and family sustaining wages. This matters for everyone’s future economic and professional wellbeing.”
Four of the in-demand career areas demonstrating significant supply shortages in comparison to demand in the Jacksonville, Florida MSA include Healthcare, Business/Finance, IT/Math, and Architecture/Engineering. Additionally, the Jacksonville Metro Skills Report Identifies:
- Jacksonville Supply and Demand by Career Area, with Median Posted Salary
- Jacksonville Top Competency Gaps in Target Career Areas
- Key Hard-to-Find Skills in Jacksonville, by Career Area
“The newest research identified in the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Jacksonville Metro Skills Report can play an essential role in growing the region’s economy and increasing high wage career opportunities,” said Florida Blue’s Executive Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Florida Chamber Foundation Trustee Susan Towler. “Identifying the competencies and skills demanded by Jacksonville’s job creators recognizes the need to upskill Jacksonville’s workers for the region’s continued growth.”
The Florida Chamber Foundation thanks the JAX Chamber, the Baker County Chamber and key industry trade association partners statewide and in the Jacksonville MSA for engaging area employers in its important, future-oriented research.
“CareerSource Florida is honored to join with the Florida Chamber Foundation and other vital talent pipeline partners to ensure at least 80 percent of Florida’s workforce has essential employability skills by 2030 to support career pathway opportunities and help families and communities prosper,” said CareerSource Florida President and CEO Michelle Dennard. “We are grateful for the innovative leadership of our local workforce development board partners in this region who connect Floridians with the latest in education and workforce training to meet the skills needs of so many employers right now and into the constantly evolving future, a vital component of achieving that goal.”
To view results of the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Florida Workforce Needs Study and Jacksonville Metro Skills Report, visit https://www.flchamber.com/floridaworkforceneedsstudy.
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