Narrative: I. b.

Introduction to the Massachusetts WIOA Combined State Plan

Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll are two leaders dedicated to advancing opportunities for workers, ensuring employers have the skilled workforce they need to succeed, and lifting all regional economies to drive competitiveness, affordability, and equity across Massachusetts.

When Governor Healey and Lt. Governor Driscoll were sworn into office on January 5, 2023, Massachusetts and the nation experienced historic firsts—the first woman-elected governor in Massachusetts, the first openly lesbian governor in the country, and the first women-led duo to govern the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This wave of new leadership in Massachusetts signaled the importance of ensuring greater equity in both government and communities statewide. In its first year as a new team, the Healey-Driscoll Administration recognized the opportunity and urgency to meet this moment.

Building on this foundation, the Healey-Driscoll Administration understands how critical the state’s workforce is and will be to fuel economic prosperity in Massachusetts. Now more than ever, Massachusetts will benefit from a strategic workforce agenda that identifies priorities, goals, and strategies to attract, retain, and develop talent while also fostering an innovative, collaborative, and equitable workforce system. Massachusetts’ Workforce Agenda: Meeting the Moment to Attract, Retain, and Develop a Future Workforcedetails a comprehensive plan defined by four focus areas:

1. Talent Attraction and Retention
2. Talent Development
3. Lead by Example
4. Workforce System Infrastructure

In recent years, the workforce has dramatically changed in Massachusetts, nationally, and globally. Described in Massachusetts’ 2023 Economic Development Plan, (mass.gov/doc/economic-development-plan) the global pandemic reset economies at all levels impacting Massachusetts industries and workforce demands. An increasingly mobile, remote, and hybrid workforce combined with accelerated technology, increased costs, downsized workplaces, shifts in downtown districts, importance on mental health, access, and costs for quality caregiving, and so many more factors continue to evolve and have adjusted the needs for both workers and employers.

In the aftermath of the global pandemic, the Massachusetts labor market increasingly tightened as workers and jobseekers left the labor market, remained disconnected from the workforce, and felt discouraged from re-entering the labor market due to several barriers to access meaningful employment. Today, persistent inequities exist in the Massachusetts labor market based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, class, economic status, physical and mental ability, geography, religion, and Veteran status. At the same time, employers across all industries have and continue to face urgent needs to attract, retain, and develop talent to meet hiring demands not only for today but also projected over time. Massachusetts’ Workforce Agendaincludes an economic analysis section with detailed workforce trends.

Nevertheless, the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts believe in the power of its people and the strength of its diverse workforce. The greatest asset in Massachusetts is the collective skills, talents, and efforts of every resident. Moreover, every individual should have the opportunity to contribute to the state’s workforce and be rewarded fairly and equitably. The Healey-Driscoll Administration is dedicated to addressing disparities in the state’s workforce and workforce system by creating a labor market that is inclusive, fair, and representative of the diversity of in Massachusetts. The strength of the state’s economy is its workforce. Massachusetts has and will thrive when its workers are connected to opportunities that will influence innovation and empower economic growth for employers representing all industries.

There are over 242,000 active job postings that remain unfilled (as of November 2023), and all sectors of the economy are projected to increase employment by 2030. High growth industries such as the life sciences, health care and human services, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing are among the industries with the greatest demands and opportunities statewide. Additionally, regional workforce partners from the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands have partnered with the Healey-Driscoll Administration to examine industries and occupations in greatest need to close the workforce skills gaps and build the workforce local economies need to thrive.

Massachusetts must meet this moment by increasing access and opportunity for residents and new arrivals including untapped and future talent. By leveraging key goals and strategies outlined in Massachusetts’ Workforce Agenda, the Commonwealth will unlock greater equity, create pathways, and skill building to meet demands, and ensure Massachusetts’ workers and rising talent are positioned for success and skilled to fill the thousands of jobs available today and projected for the future.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (USDOL) 2024-2028 Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) State Combined Plan served as an opportunity for the Healey-Driscoll Administration including the MassHire State Workforce Board, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, and collaborative state agencies to engage stakeholders and communities to prioritize goals, identify effective strategies, and enhance partnerships to create a workforce development roadmap for the next four years. The Massachusetts’ Workforce Agenda reflects the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s first workforce agenda, incorporating equity, competitiveness, and affordability combined with measurable goals to develop a skilled workforce to benefit workers and employers, and in turn, strengthen Massachusetts’ economic prosperity.

Purpose

Massachusetts’ Workforce Agenda: Meeting the Moment to Attract, Retain, and Develop a Future Workforce serves as the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s first workforce agenda, which contributes directly to the U.S. DOL 2024-2028 WIOA State Plan. Together, the workforce agenda and WIOA State Plan will benefit the Commonwealth’s workforce system in several ways:

• The State Plan sets forth the workforce agenda for the Healey-Driscoll Administration, reflecting the Governor and MassHire State Workforce Board’s Vision, Mission, Goals, and Strategies in collaboration with workforce partners.
• The State Plan acts as a framework for major public workforce system partners, including WIOA partners, on operations, coordination, and new strategies.
• The State Plan framework is applied to and represents over $400 million in state and federal funding across partners.
• The State Plan outlines the synergy between state and local partners by articulating the coordination of services across and between agencies including the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the Departments of Unemployment Assistance and Career Services, the MassHire system, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA), Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB), the Executive Office of Veterans Services, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs program, education partners including the Executive Office of Education, the Department of Elementary and Secondary of Education including its Adult and Community Learning Services department, and reentry partners including the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and the Department of Corrections among collaborators statewide.
• The State Plan builds consensus and focus across stakeholders in a workforce ecosystem that is a complex combination of federal and state programming.