News comes as regional economy shifts toward knowledge-based industries
A new report from the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center suggests that 27% of the current working-age population in the city of New Orleans is low-skilled and likely low-literate.
The GNOCDC says that while New Orleans has a smaller share of low-skilled working-age adults than Memphis and Detroit, it has a larger share than cities like Raleigh and Washington, D.C.
Two recent studies from the Brookings Institution found that there is a large gap between the skills required by employers in the New Orleans metro and the skills supplied by the labor pool.
The news comes as the regional economy shifts toward knowledge-based industries with middle and high-skilled jobs projected to account for over half of all job openings by 2020.
The GNOCDC says economic development leaders will need to find ways to address workforce training.
