There’s been a lot of news lately about some of the industries where Winston-Salem is growing, such as regenerative medicine and aviation, by attracting new companies and supporting industries.
This kind of growth is great, but it also poses a challenge: these jobs need workers and sometimes they require workers with a particular set of skills.
There’s actually a lot of thought that goes into growing a workforce to fill the jobs that are created in an expanding economy, and that endeavor is called workforce development. It turns out that it takes a village (or a city) to put together a deep, talented pool of workers that keeps a thriving region ticking.
What is workforce development?
Workforce development covers a range of activities and initiatives to prepare current and future workers for skill-based or knowledge-specific jobs in various industries and sectors, including educational activities, skill development, and job placement. These efforts provide individuals with the training, tools, or experience they need to become an integral part of a larger workforce. Additionally, these efforts help to match companies with the type of employees their businesses require.
Workforce development plays an important role in developing economies and growing industries, so many kinds of organizations play a role in it, from school systems and academic institutions to non-profits and individual companies. Some wide-sweeping initiatives involve collaboration between many entities to support a local workforce across the spectrum.
What are the benefits of workforce development?
Workforce development usually provides a number of benefits for people, companies, and communities who make up an economic ecosystem, in slightly different, but complementary ways. When workforce development is intentional and systematic, entire cities or regions benefit, directly and indirectly.
Benefits for Individuals
Some of the most basic workforce development activities benefit individuals by preparing them for a job, possibly through education or training around a specific skill. One way it can help prepare individuals is by providing resources to help write resumes, practice for interviews, or navigate applying for a job. These types of activities prepare individuals for the workplace and help them obtain employment.
Other workforce programs focus on preparing workers for specific jobs, giving them the requisite skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a particular career. Whether by providing ongoing education for workers currently in a sector–which can look like career advancement opportunities or training for a particular task or system, called “upskilling”–or full-scale programs that prepare unskilled workers to enter into a new industry, the chance to learn new skills or expand leadership opportunities can help workers’ grow in their careers.
Benefits for Companies
Many companies need workers with very specific skill sets (such as manufacturing, tech companies, research, etc.) in order to be successful. For companies like these, workforce development can create the qualified pool of workers that they can pull from to round out their workforce.
For other companies not so dependent upon industry-specific skills, workforce development programs can still expand their pools of qualified candidates and increase diversity of talent. For many companies, ongoing education and upskilling workers can help them retain workers by expanding their opportunities and providing growth potential to their existing workforces.
Other workforce development programs can help an entire company switch to a new software or provide education on changes in policies or laws that help companies stay competitive in changing industry landscapes.
Benefits for Communities
When individuals are invested in and workforces are developed, communities are strengthened. A strong workforce contributes to a growing economy, providing a range of opportunities, from growing smaller organizations into larger ones, creating a demand for support businesses to develop around larger industries, contributing to higher paying skilled jobs for local workers, and more.
As workforces are developed, communities also become more attractive to outside businesses and investors, which can help boost the economy as a whole by bringing in new resources and jobs. And in places where there is a focus on training specific kinds of workers, communities can become hubs for niche industries, which creates more momentum and energy in a region.
In the big picture, workforce development plays a significant role in building a strong local economy, which in turn helps the community as a whole as indirect benefits expand outward from a strong workforce, such as access to additional services, potential increase in average household income, and more capital to invest in infrastructure and social amenities.
What are examples of workforce development activities?
When it comes to growing workforce development activities, the only limitation is the creativity of communities. There are many forms of workforce development, and programs and initiatives can be varied and change depending on the strengths of the partners.
Here are some common workforce development approaches:
Educational Programs
Many colleges and universities provide workforce development through education programs and degrees, including associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as offering certifications, in some cases. But some workforce development programs start even earlier, providing guidance and future career training for K-12 students within school systems.
Vocational Training
Vocational training prepares individuals for specific jobs or trades, providing training in targeted skills required specifically for those careers or job roles. Often these types of programs are in sectors like healthcare, construction, or culinary arts. These vocational programs are often administered by trade schools or community colleges.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships provide on-the-job training, usually guided by an established professional, where the apprentice learns a specific trade or job while also earning a wage.
Skills Training
Many kinds of skills training can be considered workforce development, from technical training in a tool or process to developing “soft skills,” such as communication or teamwork, to improve career opportunities. These can be ongoing or one-time programs, ranging from days to weeks to longer.
Career Guidance
Many organizations–often non-profit or educational organizations–provide forms of career guidance, helping individuals understand their strengths or prepare them for the workplace. This can include helping people identify possible career fields or training them on how to participate in a professional setting.
Professional Development
Some workforce development opportunities happen within a worker’s current organization or alongside a current job as the individual learns additional skills, takes on new responsibilities, or earns certifications. Activities like these can be promoted by a worker’s employer to build value in employees or by the workers themselves.
Job Placement
A large part of workforce development is matching workers with employers, and many types of organizations and companies assist in making those matches. Some workers engage with talent agencies or staffing agencies to connect them with jobs. Some non-profits help specific groups or populations, such as underserved or working moms, with job placement. These, and other groups, help to create pipelines of employees.
Economic Development
At a macro level, economic development, which comprises programs and policies that are designed to improve the economics and quality of life in a specific community, assists with workforce development. Usually happening at a higher level, city and state governments can initiate workforce development programs or long range plans, along with private organizations invested in developing their communities, as part of a larger effort to grow the social and financial well-being of a region
What does workforce development look like in Winston-Salem?
Winston-Salem benefits from a large number of organizations that are invested in the development of the local community and that engage in a variety of activities to strengthen the city’s–and sometimes the region’s–workforce. A good number of these organizations are located in the Innovation Quarter, an innovation district in downtown Winston-Salem designed intentionally as a place that sparks collaborations through facilities built with economic growth in mind.
Here are just a few ways Winston-Salem is growing its workforce development efforts.
Forsyth Works
Recently, a few of the organizations and institutions involved in workforce development in Winston-Salem collaborated to create Forsyth Works, a unified point of connection to a variety of workforce development opportunities for workers and employers alike. It is designed to be the “go-to” resource for workforce information across the region. The idea is simple–that working in collaboration can spur growth more effectively. The goal is to grow the workforce of Winston-Salem in top industry sectors, powered by the partnership of Greater Winston-Salem, Inc., Forsyth Technical Community College, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, and Forsyth County.
Though this initiative brings a lot of the area’s workforce development organizations into partnership, there are also many other activities supporting workforce development throughout Winston-Salem.
Educational Pipeline
As a college town, Winston-Salem’s workforce is powered by a number of academic institutions. Some, like Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem State University, and Salem College provide a number of degrees in a wide range of fields. Forsyth Tech Community College adds training for a number of trades and careers, such as aviation, information technology, and regenerative medicine, while also providing a Small Business Center to give guidance and education for entrepreneurs. Wake Forest School of Medicine provides education for medical professionals–physician assistants, nurses, specialists, and more–entering a variety of medical fields from pediatrics to geriatrics and everything in between. UNC School of the Arts provides the training and skills needed for artists in a variety of fields. Additionally, programs exist within the K-12 system to expose young minds to a variety of career paths, including programming through local organizations like Greater Winston-Salem Inc., which offers experiences like ASPIRE WS to impart workplace readiness to juniors and seniors.
Industry-Specific Opportunities
A recent grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) provided funding to start the Regenerative Medicine Engine in North Carolina, located in the Innovation Quarter, in order to promote research in regenerative medicine, as well as grow a skilled workforce in all areas required to commercialize regenerative medicine discoveries. One aspect of this engine is specifically focused on workforce development, including the support of programs through Forsyth Tech, Winston-Salem State University, and North Carolina A&T State University to produce skilled workers that support both the research and manufacturing arms of this newer industry.
Startup Culture and Beyond
Additionally, there are a large number of other companies and non-profits dedicated to improving the workforce of Winston-Salem, including a strong startup ecosystem. Entrepreneurial activities overlap with workforce development by equipping and training entrepreneurs in order to create more jobs and successful startups. Dive deeper into how one of those organizations is helping entrepreneurs find success or read about or other small business resources you can access right here in the iQ.
Discover more about Winston-Salem’s ecosystem.
The point of workforce development is to strengthen the economy through the cultivation of a strong pool of talented workers in a variety of industries and sectors, but even more so, to create a strong community. There are numerous entities both within the iQ and the greater Winston-Salem area dedicated to building a better community in the city, and each plays an important role.
To learn more about some of the companies and institutions working toward a stronger Winston-Salem, keep digging. You can learn more about:
- A unique partnership helping biotech startups grow
- The 2024 Chamber of the Year, Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.
- The research hub bringing new companies and innovations into the Winston-Salem ecosystem
Stay tuned for more updates on how the iQ continues to grow and contribute to a strong Winston-Salem community.
