19E - CALIFORNIA'S EDGE CAMPAIGN

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KEEPING CALIFORNIA COMPETITIVE, CREATING OPPORTUNITY 5 The Challenge Posed by Major Demographic Shifts The major demographic shifts occurring in the next two decades also pose critical workforce challenges: . A recently issued CSU-Sacramento report" informs us that: California will need to replace 1.4 million workers with higher education who will be retiring or otherwise leaving their occupations. The need to replace these workers is almost equal to the need created by the growth of expanding industries. California employers will require greater levels of education and skill. While currently 26 percent of jobs require an Associate degree, Bachelor's degree or higher, an estimated 34 percent of employment growth through 2022 will have such a requirement. . The Campaign for College Opportunity estimates that approximately 1.8 million students will be turned away from California's public colleges and universities between 2004 and 2013 due to lack of space.'-' The Challenge Facing California's Workers The urgent lesson from these examples is that our workforce system and business leadership must recom- mit to maintaining California's competitive edge. The path to success is not to compete by driving down the cost of labor, but rather by increasing public and private sector investment in people and productivity, skills and innovation. Unfortunately, there is mounting evidence that California's workforce is unprepared for the jobs of the future: . An unacceptable number of young people are not graduating from high school. In 2000, only 70 of every 100 ninth graders graduated within four years, and 29 percent of Californians age 18 to 24 lacked a high school diploma. 14 . Too few high school graduates are going on to college. California lags the nation in the share of high school graduates who go immediately to college and, of those who do enter college, the share who remain in college after one year. I; . High school graduates often also lack the math, science, and English proficiency to enter vocational training for high paying jobs in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, building trades, environmental services, and health sciences. "The solution is not to compete by driving down the cost of labor, but rather by increasing public and private sector investment in people and productivity, skills and innovation." . Today, many of those in the emerging workforce come from communities with relatively low levels of academic attainment. By 2020, approximately half of California's prime age workforce will be Latino and black.I' Despite high school reform attempts, California is not making sufficient progress in closing the opportunity gap in these communities. . Californians already in the workforce must continu- ally upgrade their skills for the sake of job retention and career advancement, yet too few have access to lifelong education and incumbent worker training programs. 12 Dr. Robert Fountain, Marcia Cosgrove, and Petra Abraham Laptalo, Keeping California's Edge: The Growing Demandfor Highly Educated Workers (College of Continuing Education, Sacramento State University, Sacramento Applied Research Center: April 26, 2006). 13 See http://www.collegecampaign.org. 14 California Budget Project, Working Hard, Falling Short: Investing in California's Working Families (January 2005), p. 21. 15 California Budget Project, Working Hard, Falling Short: Investing in California's Working Families (January 2005), p. 21. 16 California Budget Project, Working Hard, Falling Short: Investing in California's Working Families (January 2005), p. 20. 19E-8