ECONOMY Workforce gaps addressed locally as many shift career paths 2023 HIGHER EDUCATION GUIDE
2023 HOUSTON METRO WORKFORCE PROJECTIONS Economy experts anticipate the health care sector will see the most job growth this year. Government, which includes public education, and construction follow to round out the three industries expected to see the most growth this year.
BY DANICA LLOYD
As the demand for health care, education and technology workers across the region increases, Lone Star College-CyFair President Valerie Jones said she believes community colleges will play a signi cant role in closing workforce gaps. “The heart of what makes a community college a community college ... is our ability to pivot very quickly to workforce needs,” she said. For example, with local hospital systems including Houston Methodist and Memorial Hermann expand- ing their footprints, more health care practitioners are needed to keep up with that growth. LSC CyFair o ers an associate degree in nursing and well as an opportunity for registered nurses to earn a Bachelor of Science in nursing. The community’s growth also means an additional need for quali ed teachers in local schools. Jones said LSC CyFair is in talks with Cy-Fair ISD to create new expedited teacher preparation paths and expand on current o erings to meet local needs in this area. In his annual Houston region employment fore-
ESTIMATED JOBS ADDED
7,400
Health care and social assistance
6,400
Government Construction
6,300
5,925
Professional, scienti c and technical services
4,800 4,725
Food services and drinking places
Administrative support, waste management
4,575
Manufacturing
SOURCE: GREATER HOUSTON PARTNERSHIP COMMUNITY IMPACT
past year. As state entities face challenges in recruit- ment and retention, survey respondents said their own workloads had increased. Jones said LSC CyFair has identi ed a need for “short-term pivot point opportunities” in response to this larger national trend. For example, students seeking opportunities in a technology role can take an eight-week course in the Python programming language. Such programs also make employees more marketable in their existing roles, she said. “I think that’s a big space where we see people wanting to move out of a eld into some technolo- gy-related discipline or to move into the technology component of their existing industry,” Jones said. Continuing education opportunities are designed to train students for high-demand jobs in a matter of weeks, and longer-term certi cation opportu- nities also allow students to be employable in less than a year. Jones said classes are exible to sup- port students pursuing education while working. “We create those opportunities for folks to stay in their current employment or to start employment mid-process to degree completion that’s in the path that they’re wanting to move so that they’re simultaneously maintaining income,” Jones said.
technology company; rather, it’s the reality that every industry is being infused with more and higher demand technology,” she said. “It’s the technology that goes into machining production. It’s the tech- nology that goes into the CAT scan and the radiation
cast, Patrick Jankowski, senior vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership, projected health care and social assistance will add more jobs than any other industry in 2023. The government sector, which includes public education, followed with a pro- jected growth of 6,400 employees—10.5% of all job growth this year.
equipment at the hospitals. It’s the technology that goes into accounting rms.” Accommodating career shifts In addition to population growth and technology advancements, the U.S. has seen a spike in career shifts since the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to the U.S.
“THE HEART OF WHAT MAKES A COMMUNITY COLLEGE A COMMUNITY COLLEGE ... IS OUR ABILITY TO PIVOT VERY QUICKLY TO WORKFORCE NEEDS.”
VALERIE JONES, LONE STAR COLLEGE CYFAIR PRESIDENT
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 50.5 million Americans quit their job in 2022—the second consecutive year of record-breaking numbers. A report released earlier this year by Every Texan and the Texas State Employees Union noted low pay and high turnover rates for Texas state employees. According to the report, 56% of state workers were considering leaving their position for higher pay as 61% said they had not received a wage increase in the
One of the newest o erings in the college system is the associate degree in cloud computing, which prepares students to design and implement enter- prise software systems. Information technology jobs are in high demand across the board, Jones said. “That doesn’t mean everybody’s working for a
$200 OFF ANY NEW GARAGE DOOR Only one per customer cannot be combined with any other coupon
50% OFF GARAGE DOOR TUNE UP ($75 VALUE) Only one per customer cannot be combined with any other coupon
281-947-5311 • WWW.GARAGEDOORDOCTOR.BIZ GARAGE DOOR REPAIR OR REPLACE
15
CYPRESS EDITION • MAY 2023
Powered by FlippingBook