Triad counties lag in new workforce report

Yahoo

25-02-2025

TRIAD – The state has made significant strides in closing the gap between workforce needs and educational attainment since efforts were first launched in 2019, but local counties' improvement has been below average, according to a new report.
Since the group myFutureNC was formed in 2019 to drive those efforts, North Carolina has added nearly 215,000 credentialed workers, bringing the total to 1.7 million residents ages 25 to 44 who hold a college degree or high-quality credential, according to myFutureNC's 2025 State of Educational Attainment Report.
In 2019 it was projected that North Carolina would need to have 2 million in that age group with college degrees or industry-valued credentials by 2030 to meet the state's workforce demands because 85% of good jobs are likely to require workers to have an education beyond high school. At the time, the state was projected to have only 1.6 million by 2030.
Now the state is projected to be only 55,000 short of 2 million by 2030, but further closing that gap could prove difficult, the report said.
Among other reasons, currently only 31% of ninth-grade N.C. public school students graduate high school on time and earn a college degree or certificate within six years after graduation, the report said. This rate has remained stagnant.
And while the share of adults aged 25-44 with a degree or credential has increased by five percentage points statewide, from 53.4% in 2019 to 58.4% in 2023, that improvement is being driven by a relatively small number of counties. Only 26 counties had improvement of more than five points while 21 rural counties had declines.
Guilford County improved 3.3 percentage points. Neighboring Randolph County improved by only 2.9 points, Forsyth County by 4.2 points, and Davidson County barely had any improvement – just 0.5 of a point, the report said.
The state's most-populous counties haven't done better: Charlotte and Mecklenberg County improved 3.2 points, while Raleigh and Wake County improved 3.2.
myFutureNC and its partners outlined five key policy recommendations to increase educational attainment across the state: Expand scholarships for high-demand jobs that don't require a four-year college degree; enhance support and completion grants; improve college transfer transparency; invest in community-driven solutions to increase educational attainment; and support existing legislative priorities that will help to increase attainment.
The report includes $40 million in legislative funding proposals that myFutureNC says would help close the achievement gap.
myFutureNC also recognized several organizations and individuals for their work at the local, regional or state level, including state Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, and Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, whose district includes part of Randolph County.