Axios Event: Affordability and training are key for Austin workforce, leaders say

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas is investing heavily in workforce development programs at the state and local level, Austin leaders said at a May 14 Axios event.

Why it matters: Expanding skill-building programs and increasing the number of better-paying jobs will help attract and retain more workers, as many families struggle with the high costs of living.

Axios Austin's Nicole Cobler and Asher Price spoke with nonprofit Texas 2036 executive vice president A.J. Rodriguez; Austin Mayor Kirk Watson; Joe Esparza, who represents employers on the Texas Workforce Commission; and Workforce Solutions Capital Area CEO Tamara Atkinson at the event, sponsored by JPMorgan Chase.

What they're saying: "If Austin wants to continue to be a place that people can make a life, raise their families, have family-sustaining careers, we need to make sure we're very intentional about how we go about doing that," Watson said.

• A key part of that is making Austin affordable and finding ways to put more money in residents' pockets, he said.

Context: Austin invested $5 million last year in a public-private collaboration with Workforce Solutions Capital Area and other community entities to create the Austin Infrastructure Academy at the Austin Community College District. The hub for recruiting and training for infrastructure sector jobs was launched in March.

Austin "can't just be the city that's a tech darling," Watson said. "It has to be a city that everyone can participate in. … That may mean people that aren't getting four-year degrees or things of that nature, so the Austin Infrastructure Academy is geared at just that."

• The program will help prepare trainees to work on the city's infrastructure projects, he said.
• "The Infrastructure Academy is a great new model for how job-seeker students connect with employers," Atkinson said. "It's not workforce development 101, it's a new way of bringing the community together.".

One goal of the Austin Infrastructure Academy is to rebrand construction and skilled trades, Atkinson said. "Our new tagline is: 'Make a living making Austin.'"

• "There are tremendous career pathways," she said. "Here's what I think the future of [the] workforce will continue to look like: and that is workers not having to choose between going to school and getting skills or getting a job. I think it's going to be both. Earn and learn is the way of the future."

Zoom in: Employers across the state say they are looking for workers with both technical and soft skills to fill gaps in the workforce development pipeline, Esparza said.

• Rising demand for employees with soft skills "opens a great opportunity to engage students, young adults that are getting into the workplace … with apprenticeship opportunities, work-based learning, specifically internships," he said.

• "That's a huge priority. I think it answers a lot of what employers are looking for."

Zoom out: Texas counties and cities are uniting on efforts around workforce and economic development, Rodriguez said. "Regionalism, I think, is where the state is going."

What's next: Implementing the Texas Legislature's work on community college finance reform through House Bill 8 last session is "what's going to put Texas on the map," Rodriguez said.

• The legislation is focused on improving student outcomes and connecting students at two-year colleges to four-year institutions, he said.
• "It's about upskilling and re-skilling workers … and also providing credentials of value for our students to get family-sustaining wages over time."

Content from the sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, Diego Gordillo, managing director and Southwest segment head at JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking, shared what the company is telling business owners in this moment of economic uncertainty.

• "We're advising clients … this is the time to train your workforce. I think 60% of employees by 2027 will need some type of upskilling, and you're going to need more training, but only half of them have the right pathways to get to where they need to be.
• "Our message would be to business owners: Invest in your people to reduce attrition, because ultimately that helps your bottom line."