Workforce Development

Business Needs Talent
Companies base expansion and relocation decisions on the availability of talent in a city or region. Without robust talent pipelines, the Greater Phoenix region risks losing companies and high-wage jobs. Serving as a catalyst for partnership, the Foundation convenes four employer-led workforce collaboratives to address the growing skills gap facing our community: Construction, Cybersecurity, Financial Services, and Health Care: Hospitals. Each collaborative focuses on engaging key stakeholders to champion holistic and scalable workforce solutions for the Greater Phoenix region.

These employer led workforce collaboratives accomplish their goals by

1. Aligning educational training to necessary job skills
2. Providing workplace experiences through apprenticeships and internships to prepare talent for open positions
3. Promoting career awareness and opportunities for underrepresented populations in each respective industry

• lack of available applicants/no applicants
• lack of technical competencies (hard skills)
• lack of experience
• lack of workplace competencies (soft skills)
• looking for more pay

Source: US 2018 Manpower Survey and the US Chamber’s 2018 Bridging the Soft Skills Gap report

The workforce collaboratives were conceptualized through the Industry Leadership Councils of Phoenix Forward >>, the Greater Phoenix Chamber’s economic development initiative. The work of the collaboratives is executed through the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation.