At Communities At Work, we see an opportunity to enable thousands of residents in the Richmond region (RVA) with barriers to employment (e.g., at-risk young adults, the disabled, veterans, dislocated workers, those in chronic poverty and others needing a second chance from the justice system) to move into one of the 43,000 job openings that lead to living wage careers.
Keep reading to understand more about the opportunity we have to make a real difference in the lives of Richmond-area residents and the level of economic prosperity throughout the region.
A TALE OF TWO RVAs
Overall, unemployment in the Richmond area is low, although unemployment remains high in selected geographic areas.
As shown in this graph using 2016 data from the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate in Richmond is 4.3%, only slightly above the state-wide unemployment rate of 3.9% in Virginia and below the overall unemployment rate of 5.0% in the United States.
However, as shown in this graph, unemployment rates within specific geographic areas in the Richmond area range from 7.7% to rates exceeding 20%.
BETTER DEFINING THE PROBLEM
We have taken away several key findings from a report by the organization GoVirginia that details the economic impact of workforce challenges in Virginia’s Region 4 (which includes the Richmond area).
- 32 occupations that typically require an associate’s degree or less have a potential annual training gap
- 35 occupations that require a bachelor’s degree have an annual shortfall
The gaps in approximately two-thirds of these occupations are substantially related to strong regional clusters, potentially inhibiting growth within those clusters.
STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVE
In surveys and focus groups, stakeholders in the Richmond area identify workforce development along with the attraction and retention of talent as key drivers of growth in higher paying jobs. This perspective is evident across the entire geographic region and transcends the intra-regional differences that are evident on other issues.
While there is an impressive range of creative effort and investment underway to address workforce development issues throughout the region and in the Commonwealth, stakeholders have expressed their belief that the most successful workforce development efforts will include
- Proactive and sustained business partnerships
- Substantial cultural and institutional changes to support a long-term solution to the skills gaps described above
- Supported transitions and success coaching in the employer environment that go beyond simple job placement
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A DRIVER
As presented in the GoVirginia report, stakeholders have identified information technology as the “cluster of clusters.” Not only is information technology an important cluster in its own right, but it is driving higher paying jobs in other clusters and is the essential foundation for the region’s entrepreneurial creativity and innovation ecosystem.
REALLOCATING RESOURCES TO BETTER SOLUTIONS
The plan presented in the GoVirginia report asks all of us to
- consider how resources and investments can be leveraged to ensure that initiatives address important skill gaps and
- demonstrate how business can be a more effective partner in achieving measurable outcomes
The GoVirginia report also recommends long-term changes that enable young people to make informed choices about careers and the pathways to achieving their goals.
THE SOLUTION
Click here to learn more about the Communities At Work solution.