© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 1 Closing the Massachusetts Skills Gap: Recommendations and Action Steps April 24, 2013

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 2 Education & Health Services and Professional & Business Services are much larger sectors of employment in the state.

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 3

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 4 Massachusetts is growing more slowly than the nation; Central Mass & Southeast are the fastest growing regions.

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 5 Population growth in Massachusetts is driven by immigration & growth in diversity Absolute Change Percent Change Annual Growth Rate Total Population6,131,7526,275,646143, %0.26% Nativity Native Born5,241,7905,183,529-58, %-0.12% Immigrant889,9621,092,117202, %2.30% Race/Ethnicity White, non-Hispanic5,026,3984,827, , %-0.45% Black, non-Hispanic300,758381,48880, %2.68% Asian, non-Hispanic225,949332,793106, %4.40% Hispanic412,496588,635176, %4.03% Other race, non- Hispanic166,151145,247-20, %-1.48% Population Characteristics, 2000 to

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 6 Massachusetts is the 12 th oldest state, with 44% of its labor force age 45 or older. Age Distribution of the Civilian Labor Force, 2000 to

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 7 Massachusetts is the most well-educated state in the nation; 41% have Bachelor’s Degree or higher. Educational Attainment of the Labor Force, 2000 to

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 8 The largest growth in educational attainment of the labor force is Master’s Degree or higher. Growth in Educational Attainment, 2000 to

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 9 Massachusetts lags in growth in post-secondary completions in the US; faster growth in Central Mass, Southeast, and Northeast.

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 10 Massachusetts also lags US growth in full-time enrollments in two- and four-year institutions.

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 11 Massachusetts lags US in growth of part-time enrollments in two-year and declined in four-year institutions.

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 12 Increasing alignment of fields of study for Associate’s Degree completions in Central Mass, Southeast & Boston/MetroNorth. Associate’s Degree Completions by Field of Study, 2010

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 13 In the past decade employment opportunities have grown, almost exclusively, for workers with a college degree. Annual Growth in the Employed by Education, 2000 to

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 14 Workers with a high school diploma or less are disproportionately unemployed. Educational Attainment of Civilian Labor Force & Unemployed,

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 15 Young Workers, are also disproportionately unemployed. Age of Civilian Labor Force & Unemployed,

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 16 Key Findings: Context Massachusetts continues to concentrate jobs in industries & occupations that require post- secondary education Large and well-educated baby boomer generation reaching retirement age – significant replacement challenges Labor force growth is highly depend on immigration & labor force is becoming more diverse

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 17 Key Findings: Challenges Young workers face significant challenges in connecting to the job market due to limited work experience & “try-out” employment opportunities Workers with a high school diploma or less make up half of the unemployed but one-third of the labor force as a result of increasing skill requirements While alignment of associate’s degrees have improved in some regions of the state, still room to improve in other regions Part-time enrollments in bachelor’s degree programs have declined leaving limited access to ongoing skill upgrade & credential attainment for working adults

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 18 Strengthen the job seeking skills, retention skills & work experience for young workers. Strengthen the connection of institutions and organizations that serve teens and young adults to local employers Develop capacity of these institutions to prepare young workers with the skills that they need to find and retain work Partner with employers to Increase work experiences and internship opportunities for high school and college students.

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 19 Increase the scale & intensity of programs that develop literacy & numeracy skills & credentials of adults. Expand the scale, flexibility and intensity of programs that support the development of critical literacy and numeracy skills, including efforts underway to align ABE and GED programs with community college entry requirements, Increase contextualized basic education and ESOL programs, Deploy technology to increase scale and enhance offerings for lower skilled workers.

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 20 Continue to improve the alignment of education & workforce services with the dynamic skill needs of industry. Provide flexible, modular and competency- based programs to support talent pipelines and career pathways for jobs in demand. Strengthen regional sector partnerships and state industry clusters to identify and address changing skill requirements of industry and increasing credentials necessary to find and retain employment.

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 21 Craft more effective and accessible educational models that support ongoing skill development and lifelong learning. Partner with businesses to invest in the ongoing skill development & educational attainment of incumbent workers Influence the development of Massive Open Online Courses to meet ongoing skill needs of adult workers Advance innovations in knowledge and skill transfer from employees who are nearing retirement to succeeding generations of workers