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Thousands of workers are needed for big construction projects happening all around Austin.
Mayor Kirk Watson, along with the support of several Austin council members are pushing for an infrastructure academy to be a training hub for the city.
They hope a partnership with Workforce Solutions will help get construction workers, skilled trade individuals and the project managers they need to build the infrastructure.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson announced Wednesday plans for a new infrastructure academy to help build a local pipeline of workers for major construction and transportation projects in the region.
It’s tied to an agenda item that the city council will take up March 7.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area is one of the organizations working with the mayor on this initiative. Chief Executive Officer Tamara Atkinson said this would be the first academy of its kind in the country.
Over 50 students from nine local school districts attended Workforce Solutions Capital Area’s biannual Nursing Academy on Feb. 21 for a day of interactive learning in Texas State University Round Rock’s five nursing simulation labs.
The academy is put on twice a year through WSCA’s Central Texas Healthcare Partnership, which consists of Baylor Scott & White, Ascension Seton and St. David’s HealthCare.
“There’s so much negative publicity in the news about nursing,” said Ashley King, WSCA director of health care partnerships. “We’re really trying to give a positive spin to a really great career opportunity and all of the different career options that they have—the different pathways, the different tracks that they could do.”
Workforce Solutions Capital Area said it has become an industry that’s seen consistent job growth over the years.
“From December 2022 to December 2023, the leisure and hospitality industry has seen a 2.3% growth,” said Senior Director of Business Engagement Amber Warne.
Warne said as of December 2023, there were a total of 150,200 jobs filled in the industry.
Central Texas high school students filled the classrooms at Texas State University’s Round Rock campus on Wednesday.
Health care professionals hope they may be a solution to a much larger problem.
“Our shortage is pretty substantial,” said Ashley King, the director of health care partnerships with Workforce Solutions Capital Area. “Nursing is the larger shortage that we have in health care, and with an expected 6 percent increase in the next 10 years.”
The Austin-Round Rock metro area is above the national average for the number of women working in local construction, but still lags behind 27 other cities, according to data from the company Construction Coverage.
According to data from Workforce Solutions Capital Area, women made up 10% of Austin area construction workers in 2022. For Workforce Solutions Capital Area program manager Michelle Buford, the increase is positive as barriers to entry begin to erode.
“It used to be a male-dominated field. But women can do just as well in this industry as men,” Buford said. “I honestly believe it has a lot to do with the change in attitudes of the folks that would normally employ folks into this. [The unions] are recruiting women, they’re talking to women…we have folks in our community who know that we need to increase the number of women that enter these fields.”
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has awarded a total of $175,000 to Workforce Solutions Capital Area and Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area through Child Care Employment Connections Awards. This performance-based award recognizes local workforce development boards (Boards) for their work in connecting at-risk parents with sufficient employment.
The Child Care Employment Connections Awards recognize boards that were the most successful in helping make employment connections for unemployed parents whose children are receiving child care assistance.
“We’re honored to be recognized for this critical support to help Austin-Travis County parents,” said Tamara Atkinson, Chief Executive Officer at WSCA. “We help parents gain and keep employment, and also increase earning potential. Parents who receive child care assistance through us see an annual wage increase of over $6,300.”
More headquarters continue to move to Texas, specifically the Austin area.
According to a new report by real estate company CBRE, Austin stands out with the most headquarters relocations in the country.
“A lot of individuals have the opportunity to move into those industries and start advancing their careers,” said Workforce Solutions Capital Area Senior Director of Business Engagement Amber Warne. “Opportunities for individuals to move into some of these higher, high paying jobs that are available.”
With a rapidly expanding economy, Texas leads the nation in job growth, but faces higher unemployment and poverty rates than the U.S. as a whole. The state’s workforce development leaders say connecting employees to training programs, child care services and continuing education are crucial to keeping pace with growth.
Tamara Atkinson, CEO of Workforce Solutions Capital Area, a nonprofit organization that helps Travis County residents find career training and job opportunities, said Texas needs to act fast to prepare workers for the future.
“If our job is to find and prepare and support the workers, we need to recognize the additional thing — the support that they need to be successful in their skill training and on the job,” Atkinson said at a Texas Tribune event Wednesday morning.
More than 20 national, state and local law enforcement agencies will be recruiting at a career fair at a central Austin hotel on Friday, the Department of Public Safety said Monday.
According to DPS, the 2023 Public Safety Diversity Career Fair will happen at the Hill Country Ballroom at the Holiday Inn at 6000 Middle Fiskville Rd. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday.
DPS, the Texas Veterans Commission and Workforce Solutions Capital Area are co-hosting the fair.