Ensuring a healthy and productive workforce is an essential component of community economic development. The term workforce development refers to a range of activities, policies, and programs used by a variety of partners to create, sustain, and retain a workforce that can support current and future business and industry.
Employers approach workforce development from an organizational perspective, focusing on the skills their business or industry needs to remain competitive in the marketplace. Communities and economic developers approach workforce development which benefits the economic growth of a community or region. And yet educational institutions and social service providers approach workforce development and develop programs from the perspective of the economic security of the individual.
Workforce Trends
Recent world events have expedited the advancement of digital technologies, altering where and how we work (telework), as well as producing and distributing goods and services (automation). Growing Greater Philadelphia highlights how these trends may impact the region’s economic sectors and what types of policies and programs should be employed to sustain the regional workforce.
Telework
Increased telework capacity and opportunities mean that employers now have access to a national, or even global, talent pool. This also means that workers are no longer constrained by the job market in their city, or the housing market in the city in which their job is located. However, telework capacity is greater in some sectors of the economy than others, meaning some occupations are still tethered to the physical location of their job.
Automation
Routine jobs are at the greatest risk of automation and can be broken down into two categories. The first is cognitive, which includes occupations such as secretaries and customer service representatives. The second is manual, which is more physical, such as a factory worker. Both types can be found throughout each economic sector in Greater Philadelphia at varying degrees. As a result, the workforces in some sectors are at greater risk of automation than others.
Growing Greater Philadelphia highlights how these trends may impact the region’s economic sectors and what types of policies and programs should be employed to sustain the regional workforce. View the Comparing Regional Economies webpage to see how Greater Philadelphia jobs are at risk for telework and automation and how that risk compares to other regions.
Transit Sector Workforce Challenges
Research indicates that approximately 50% of the transit industry’s workforce will retire over the next 10 years. Due to this demographic shift, demand for increasingly sophisticated skills, gaps in training, and industry perceptions, the transit industry needs to address these workforce and human capital issues that are critical to the continuing success of the industry.
What we Think we Know [0.5 MB pdf]. This report identifies 5 themes that are most concerning to transit and workforce development stakeholders. The report also serves as a reminder of the challenges the transit industry was facing pre-COVID-19 and will help transit industry leaders develop a path forward through recovery.
A Path Forward (May 2021)
A Path Forward_May_5_2021.pdf (228.07 KB)
Addressing Turnover & Turmoil in the Transit Industry (June 2020)
Recording (originally recorded on June 2, 2020)
Webinar Evaluation
Addressing Turnover in the Transit Industry (May 2019)
Agenda [0.1 MB pdf]
Highlights (PDF) [0.2 MB pdf]