Industries throughout the American economy are reporting shortages of highly skilled and properly trained workers. Even for the most critical of these industries, challenges in maintaining a sufficient workforce are expected to worsen by 2030 as the number of retirees exceeds the number of new professionals qualified to replace them.
Simultaneously, many workers, as a recent Pew Research survey shows, are unhappy with their current occupation, feel they lack opportunities for promotion, and don’t have a mentor from whom to learn.
Spurred by these challenges and other findings of Focus NJ’s 2020 report, “Education Equation Part II,” we launched an online database of workforce development programs and providers in New Jersey in 2022.
The need for partnerships between industry and educators has only grown in the two years since that initial release, leading to a substantial expansion of the database in recent months. The database, available to the public on
focusnj.org, now contains more than 400 entries consisting of community colleges, vocational-technical schools, community nonprofits, private post-secondary educators, and other training providers.
There is no consensus on a strict definition of workforce development or workforce training. Focus NJ has taken an inclusive approach to defining workforce development for the purposes of this project, which includes programs that offer training for in-demand occupations in fields such as healthcare, information technology, skilled trades, and more; providing work-based learning opportunities to adults with disabilities and individuals from disadvantaged communities; and seeking partnerships with local businesses to generate employment pipelines for their graduates.
Individuals and businesses can visit focusnj.org/workforce-development-map to access the database and mapping tool, where they can quickly identify providers and programs in their community by navigating the map on the right side of the screen or searching for entries by county, industry, or keyword.
Employers in need of qualified workers are also encouraged to utilize the page to identify training providers in their region with which to partner.
The page is intended to serve as a public resource and is continually updated as new information becomes available. Users can submit edits to existing programs and submit additional programs to be included. Submissions are considered as received and reviewed individually.