2024 Skills Forecasting: Employer Signaling for the Future of Work

The Partnership’s Skills & Talent initiative promotes transparency between educators and employers regarding the skills needed to obtain entry-level roles in the region from Baltimore to Richmond. One of the tools we used to do this is the Employer Signaling System, our online database that combines quantitative data with qualitative insights directly from employers to paint a comprehensive picture of the region’s labor market.    

This tool outlines the employer needs of today, but a truly comprehensive skills-first approach requires anticipating the workforce needs of tomorrow so that the region’s learners are equipped for the workforce that they’re entering, whether in two years, five years, or beyond. 

To do this, the Partnership released 2024 Skills Forecasting: Employer Signaling for the Future of Work, a report produced with support from McKinsey & Company. This publication uses labor market data aggregated from job postings and jobseeker profiles, and supplements it with direct input from employers, provided both through surveys and at the 2024 Skills Forecasting Summit, to anticipate employer needs of the future.  

A few key insights include: 

• Skill gaps in our region are concentrated in core manufacturing, tech and AI, and health care, which sees a monthly unfilled job posting rate of 75% in the region. 

• The future of work will require workers to have increasingly more social, emotional, cognitive, and technological skills in order to succeed. 

• The Greater Washington Area has seen explosive growth in AI/ML and other specialized technical skills – which may increase the supply/demand mismatch across industries. 

2024 Skills Forecasting: Employer signaling for the future of work concludes with concrete recommendations for stakeholders across the workforce development ecosystem, including employers, educators, government officials and nonprofit leaders, on ways to collaborate to close talent and skill gaps.