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The number of people on the job in Texas continues to grow over the 12 months. The Texas Workforce Commission said jobs in the state are growing at the fastest rate in the nation. The Austin metro area is also seeing a boost in jobs.
Texas’ employment rate held steady for the month of October at four percent. The Texas Workforce Commission said the state is recovering after COVID and outpacing the U.S. in 10 of 11 major industries.
Today, the National Institute for Innovation and Technology (NIIT), the leader in developing the nation’s semiconductor talent pipeline, and Applied Materials, Inc. (“Applied”), the world’s largest semiconductor equipment group, announced an agreement to establish a Registered Apprenticeship Program designed specifically to strengthen the company’s technician and assembler workforce.
“Austin’s booming employer landscape and low unemployment rate contributes to the challenge of finding qualified candidates to fill numerous new roles, but Workforce Solutions Capital Area is responding to this growth strategically for the benefit of both the job seekers and employers in our region,” Tamara Atkinson, CEO of Workforce Solutions Capital Area, said. “With learnings from our existing apprenticeship programs, we have been able to creatively envision apprenticeships in other nontraditional industries, such as manufacturing. We’re thrilled to partner with Applied Materials and NIIT to continue growing these valuable opportunities.”
Veronica Ramirez is a board member for Workforce Solutions Capitol Area. She says barriers like injuries, mental health challenges, and other hardships often make the job search a hard task for veterans.
“I think one of the biggest things is trying to transfer your military experience to civilian life,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez advises vets to start reaching out to their local workforce community if they are looking for employment.
Trying to hire and retain employees is an issue many industries are facing right now. One local company has come up with a solution to the problem by offering tailor-made policies that fit their employer’s needs.
Jessie Camarillo, Director of Technology Partnerships at Workforce Solutions Capital Area says the labor economy is recovering from the historic lows it reached during the pandemic.
“The Austin job market is currently growing,” she said.
A new collaboration between CapMetro and Workforce Solutions Capital Area will help develop more than 1,000 local jobs as the transit authority revs up its Project Connect mass transit program.
On Monday, the CapMetro Board of Directors approved the launch of the Transit Workforce Partnership Work Plan, with a total cost capped at $366,000. The board didn’t hold any discussion on the item prior to the vote, but CapMetro’s finance committee previously recommended approval on the item at its Oct. 12 meeting.
The partnership is contracted for a three-year period, with a projected launch date in November. As part of the collaboration, WFSCA will work alongside its education and business partners to identify possible candidates from its talent pools and fulfill CapMetro’s workforce needs.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area has received $45,000 from JFF and New Profit to design and launch a pilot initiative in October to implement the IBM SkillsBuild learning platform. This pilot will be part of the Workforce Development Board Digital Skills Pilot Initiative, led by JFF and New Profit, and funded by Google.org and IBM.
Why it matters: Workforce Solutions Capital Area partners with IBM to offer the SkillsBuild digital learning platform to Central Texans. Our existing relationship with IBM positions us to utilize SkillsBuild as a resource to address the issue of how few training programs are financially accessible to low-income residents.
WFS Capital Area offers 44 training programs in IT through our partners—ranging from Adobe Certified Associate, Cloud Administrator, Project Management & Agile Scrum, and more—and expanding SkillsBuild as an offering offers more opportunities to residents interested in pursuing careers in tech.
Through this initiative, we will accomplish three goals:
Leading our grant is Jessie Camarillo, Director of Technology Partnerships.
“This opportunity will help us by offering resources to grow a skilled workforce and engage tech employers in our region more intentionally to hire local, thereby diversifying their workforce,” Jessie said.
“We aligned this initiative with our community’s new Hire Local Plan to increase diversity in the regional workplace, and with the proven and employer-led workforce development strategy behind our Capital Area Technology Workforce Coalition, a tech sector partnership driven to build the tech industry in Central Texas and develop a skilled workforce with local talent,” said Jessie.
“We are joining tech executives around the Austin metro to work together and influence alignment around common solutions with awareness, training, hiring, and upskilling,” Jessie said.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area is one of five workforce boards to receive this grant, and one of two in Texas.
Learn more about the Workforce Development Board Digital Skills Pilot Initiative here.
CapMetro’s finance committee approved Wednesday moving forward on a collaboration with Workforce Solutions Capital Area to help develop more than 1,000 jobs for the transit authority’s Project Connect program. The three-year partnership will begin in December, with a total cost capped at $366,000.
The collaboration will tap into WFSCA’s education and business partners to expand CapMetro’s access to a talent pipeline. WFSCA will help identify gaps in CapMetro’s talent pool and map out in-demand positions and necessary skills to fulfill those needs.
Dedicated Workforce Solutions Capital Area career counselors will have a permanent home at Austin Community College District’s (ACC) Northridge Campus. The move is part of a new co-location formed in order to connect students more seamlessly to city and county funding for workforce training.
Why it matters: Data shows that ACC students who receive funding for career training through community-based partners such as Workforce Solutions Capital Area are 1.7 times more likely to complete their education faster than those who do not receive support.
Student benefits: The partnership allows students to have direct access to funding and training for high-skilled and high-paying careers. In-demand certifications that will be immediately available at ACC Northridge include:
To apply or learn more about one of the above courses, please contact Maria Coleman: (512) 223-7662 · maria.coleman@austincc.edu
To apply or learn more about one of the above courses, please contact Marcela Nouzovska: (512) 223-7588 · mnouzovs@austincc.edu
What’s next: As the partnership grows, more certifications will be added, with the goal to co-locate continuing education staff at additional ACC campuses.
Am I eligible? Travis County residents are eligible for no-cost continuing education training if they are 18 years old, live in Austin-Travis County, are authorized to work in the U.S. and have been impacted by COVID-19.
According to new data from the Texas Workforce Commission, the Austin-Round Rock MSA unemployment rate decreased slightly from July 2022 to August 2022, and is now 3.0%, as represented by 40,440 unemployed residents.
“The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the Austin metro is the top performing metro for job growth in the United States when compared to the top 50 metros,” Tamara Atkinson, CEO of Workforce Solutions Capital Area, said. “Major job growth and low unemployment adds to the challenge of finding candidates to fill numerous new roles, but Workforce Solutions Capital Area is responding to this growth strategically for both the job seekers’ and employers’ benefits.”
Even as inflation continues to take a toll and the threat of a recession remains, Austin’s job market remains strong.
The latest report from the Texas Workforce Commission shows the jobless rate in the Austin metro area decreased slightly from July to August and now stands at 3%.