MetroWest must nurture its workforce
Our 495/MetroWest regional employer survey this year illustrates several important truths of our regional economy – most importantly, that our employers remain confident, with 70 percent affirming that they expect our economy to improve.
Given the importance of our regional economy to the entire commonwealth, with more than $22 billion in annual payroll as a net importer of labor, all of us should share in this optimism for the year ahead. Recent corporate investments such as GE Life Sciences moving its 210,000-square-foot corporate headquarters to Marlborough, and eClinicalWorks' ongoing expansion in Westborough illustrate the competitiveness of our region.
Our success is due to many factors, such as committed municipal governments, key location for markets throughout New England, affordability of real estate, transportation infrastructure and, most importantly, a highly skilled workforce. Workers' educational attainment, both those living in our region and those commuting into our region, are our true competitive advantage, and the reason our economy is so diversified, with manufacturing, software development, life sciences, communication and other key industries. When compared to other states and nations, our region's educational attainment – 56 percent with college degrees, and nearly 20 percent with graduate degrees – has fueled our tremendous growth over the last 30 years, going from a $2.2-billion payroll in 1980 to a $22.5-billion payroll in 2015.
While our highly skilled workforce is a tremendous advantage in our modern economy, it is one that needs to be carefully nurtured. As our survey results show, our employers feel that their top challenge today is their skilled workforce, and respondents indicated their top workforce need is replacing their aging workforce.
On a regional level, our workforce investment board, Partnerships for a Skilled Workforce, is actively engaged in labor market analyses and targeted initiatives on key employment clusters, such as retail and health care. Our state-level legislative delegation saw the need for a formal examination of our regional economic needs and so established the 495/MetroWest Suburban Edge Community Commission, which has started looking at our industries, our skills gaps and development issues.
On a state level, leadership on workforce development is bipartisan, inter-institutional and across usual agency jurisdictions to focus on results. I was honored to serve on the advisory group for Governor Charlie Baker's economic development plan, Opportunities for All, which notes the importance of supporting workforce development strategies that close the skills gap. This emphasis on workforce development led the legislature to create a $45-million Workforce Skills Capital Grants program. With this ongoing emphasis on employers' workforce needs, there will be much to share on Oct. 19 at the DCU Center in Worcester, when the state convenes an Economic Development Summit aimed at leveraging economic opportunities and growth for all citizens.
While maintaining our competitive advantage of a skilled workforce is critical, our government, our workers, nor our employers can succeed alone. Only by working together can we build upon the optimism shown in these survey results and position our regional economy for continued success over years to come.
Paul Matthews is the executive director of the
495/MetroWest Partnership.
WBJ Web Partners
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