Report: Maricopa County in need of thousands of skilled workers by 2025

PHOENIX — Numbers released Wednesday by Maricopa Community Colleges show the strong need for skilled workers throughout the county by 2025.

Industries like Environmental Technology and Advanced Manufacturing are facing gaps in their workforce over the next decade.

Dr. Carrie Kisker with the organization said the Maricopa Community College system is going to have to fill in those gaps when it comes to training the county’s future workforce.

“What it’s going to require is a big enrollment push by the Maricopa Community College system, which requires some additional investment,” Kisker said.

She said there are steps the Maricopa Community College governing board can take to help fill those workforce gaps, including raising tuition for students.

“They make decisions about raising tuition on students, which is one major way they can bring new investment into the system,” Kisker said. “They make decisions about whether or not to put a bond measure on the ballot for voters to approve, which might be necessary in order to build new facilities and bring in new training equipment.”

The numbers released in the report covered six different industries in Maricopa County and the workforce gaps projected over the next decade:

• Environmental Technology and Sustainability: 118 needed in 2025

• Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Systems: 1,570 needed in 2025

• Advanced Business and Customer Services: 3,894 needed in 2025

• Health and Wellness: 3,132 needed in 2025

Kisker said some industries will not see a workforce gap at the community college level, but colleges will need to transfer students to other universities because there will be growth at the Bachelor Degree level.