Workforce Development
The quality and availability of the workforce are at the top of the list in nearly every business investment decision, particularly when businesses look to expand or relocate. Therefore, workforce development is critical to creating and maintaining high‑skill, high‑wage knowledge jobs in Indiana. Simply stated, the condition of our workforce will determine our economic future.
Nowhere is this need more apparent than when talking to existing and prospective information technology employers. Research shows that roughly one million Hoosier workers lack the basic skills necessary for 21st Century employment. There is an urgent need to address critical skills deficits through new, forward‑looking policies that can impact Indiana's educational and human resources for the future.
Indiana's workforce development system plays a pivotal role in growing Hoosier jobs and increasing personal income. The future economic potential for Indiana's workers is extraordinary. For example, ____________ predicts there will be 100,000 new high-tech jobs and $500 million in new payroll available statewide in the next 10 years. Information Technology jobs are 30% of the Top 10 "Hoosier Hot Jobs" for the decade 2004-2014.
Workforce Development Policy Recommendations:
- Recreate the adult education system in Indiana to prepare Hoosiers for employment and success in a knowledge‑based economy. Appropriate nearly $2 billion to fund workforce development needs.
- Effectively support the Go‑Higher Campaign to proactively alert adults and employers to the basic skills deficits existing in Indiana's workforce and availability of education programs to improve those skills.
- Provide Indiana employers with a tax credit or other incentive so that they may subsidize tuition costs for employees pursuing certificates and associate's degrees at select educational institutions.
- Provide tax or other financial incentives to small and medium‑sized companies who hire and retain interns and new graduates in the STEM‑disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Link potential opportunities to job-matching and intern databases.