Workforce Trends

California's workforce will change dramatically over the coming years in several ways. Overall, the 21st century multiethnic workforce will be the predominantly Latino. Workers will compete for an ever-increasing number of jobs that require a high level of science, math, and English reading and writing skills. Older highly skilled workers will be retiring or looking for new part-time jobs. Job churn, time without work, and other factors will decrease job security. Businesses, in order to maintain innovation and skill-driven advantage to keep or to address new markets will seek to raise workers' productivity, export work to lower cost but equally skilled regions, import skilled workers, continuously amplify the skills of existing workers, expand the labor pool by reaching out to mature workers, retirees, reentrants, and career switchers, and improve their branding as a good employers. California must produce a skills-driven, multi-ethnic, multi-generational industry-oriented workforce.

The principal four workforce trends to watch for in California are as follows:

• Ethnic shift
• Job Turnover
• Aging skilled workforce
• Influx of veterans and non-traditional workers