Mapping Trends & Challenges in States

TechnologyAdvances in technology including automation and artificial intelligence have displaced some workers, even while creating new economic opportunities that require higher levels of skills and education.

Skills: There are increasing concerns that today’s education and training systems are not keeping up with new needs for skills and education.

Work: New technology has prompted a shift in how work is structured, leading to a rise in part-time work, contract work, contingent work, “gig” work, and other non-traditional types of employment.

Demographics: An increasingly aging workforce, changes in the composition of the workforce, and a decline in geographic mobility has put significant strains on some communities, and some industries in particular.

Montana Governor Steve Bullock, 2018-2019 NGA Chair, formally begins the national conversation with governors at the launch of Good Jobs for All Americans at the Closing Plenary of the 2018 NGA Summer Meeting on July 21 in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Success Strategies

1. Workforce of the Future: Positioning State Economies for Success

Changing technology and demographics can significantly affect the nature of work and the skills needed by future employees. However, governors that capitalize on these changes to enable youth to find pathways to good jobs can position their economies for success.

2. Second ActsReskilling Mid-Career Workers for Success

Many mid-career workers have suffered economic displacement as a result of these trends. Opportunities to re-skill and up-skill in the face of a changing economy can ensure their continued access to and success in the labor market.

3. Rural Resurgence: Empowering the Rural Workforce

With declining populations, limited access to educational opportunities, and/or poor quality digital and physical infrastructure, rural communities are increasingly separated from economic success By investing in rural economic development and workforce participation, governors can strengthen this backbone of society.

Share your jobs story

Governors know that companies across America are at the forefront of developing new, cutting-edge strategies to connect workers to careers that allow them to grow, and sustain a family; this initiative seeks to draw on those experiences and those lessons learned to inform how governors can lead changes in their states to grow their economies.