This week, we take a look at the top SSTI Weekly Digest stories from 2016 and give you an idea of what to look for in the coming months.

Artificial intelligence and automation technologies have the potential to alter millions of jobs, yet the positive benefits associated with increased productivity are worth pursuing, according to a December 2016 White House report.

Across the U.S. people are working to build a more talented, skilled workforce, but often those efforts happen in isolation, separated from larger economic development efforts without engaging community and business leaders. A recently released playbook from the Aspen Institute and Futureworks, Communities That Work Partnership Playbook, aims to change a siloed approach and explores seven regional efforts to develop the local workforce for different industries and occupations. The playbook highlights key takeaways and is intended to provide guidance to others developing talent pipelines. SSTI also talked with individuals in Milwaukee and Kansas City about their regional efforts to develop the talent pipeline.

In 2016, approximately 46.7 percent of small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms (SMMs) receiving services from Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers expect challenges in the next three years related to employee recruitment, up from 19.1 percent in 2009, according to a recent survey of MEP client companies. While employee recruitment needs have grown over the last seven years, the top two challenges remained the same – cost reduction (70 percent of all respondents in 2016) and growth (53.5 percent). The findings come from an annual NIST MEP survey of their clients – small manufacturers across the United States.

U.S. intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries employ at least 27.9 million workers and contributed more than $6.6 trillion dollars (38.2 percent) to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014, according to Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: 2016 Update. In this update to a 2012 report, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) identified 81 industries (from among 313 total) as IP-intensive including trademark-intensive, copyright-intensive, and patent-intensive industries.

The majority of Americans say new skills and training are critical to their future job success and to remain competitive in changing workplaces, according to a new report issued by the Pew Research Center in association with the Markle Foundation. This was particularly true for individuals working in STEM occupations, where roughly two-thirds of employed adults responded that ongoing training and skills development would be essential to their development.

Approximately 6.2 percent of U.S. employment (nearly 8.6 million people) worked in STEM jobs in May 2015, according to STEM Occupations: Past, Present, And Future from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Of those nearly 8.6 million people, nearly half (45 percent) are employed in computer occupations. In addition, seven of the 10 largest STEM occupations were related to computers and information systems including the largest STEM occupation – applications software developers (750,000 people).  STEM occupations provide nearly double the wages of non-STEM occupations.

With job growth for middle-skill level jobs slowing, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Austin-based nonprofit Center for Public Policy Priorities studied the nation’s best practices and surveyed regional workforce boards in Texas to determine how communities there are addressing the challenge. Their findings are detailed in the report, Regional Talent Pipelines: Collaborating with Industry to Build Opportunities in Texas, released last month.

Online-education provider Coursera has announced a new program that allows governments and nonprofits focused on workforce development to curate massive open online course (MOOCs) that align with labor market needs, and then make these courses instantly available to their constituents. Initial partners of Coursera for Governments & Nonprofits include the United States and six other nations:  Egypt, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Singapore.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced $26 million in awards to expand and diversify the economy in coal-impacted communities in five states. This adds to the $47 million ARC has invested since 2015 through the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative. The 31 awards that were announced in late January are projected to create or retain more than 2,500 jobs and leverage an additional $32 million from public and private investors.

More than 40 percent of people trained as scientists and engineers indicate they are either working outside their field of study or working in a field only somewhat related, according to a recent study. Findings reveal that the majority of those working outside their academic major choose to do so voluntarily, and they are more likely to become entrepreneurs. Less than 25 percent of educational mismatches occur because of labor market conditions. Instead, workers are choosing different jobs due to changing career interests or family obligations.

Ninety-one percent of apprentices find employment after completing their program with an average starting wage above $60,000, according to a new report from the Department of Commerce’s Economic and Statistics Administration (ESA). In The Benefits and Costs of Apprenticeships: A Business Perspective, ESA researchers performed a case study analysis of 13 apprenticeship programs launched by businesses and intermediaries from a variety of occupations, industries, and regions.

The U.S. ranks second on a global manufacturing competitiveness index, according to the 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index by research firm Deloitte Global and the Council on Competitiveness. The U.S. ranking has improved in each of the past studies and is poised to take over that top spot from China by 2020, the study maintains. However, executives from across the world in responding to the study, noted that talent is the leading factor in determining manufacturing competitiveness, and finding and cultivating that talent is a topic that has received increasing attention from the manufacturing sector. While such rankings provide an interesting focal point, their real value lies in the discussion and attention focused on the subject matter. SSTI recently interviewed several leading thinkers on the subject, finding common calls for changing the approach to the talent pipeline in manufacturing, as well as a cautionary note on rankings.

More than 48,500 are employed in West Virginia’s STEM-related fields, according to an October survey, A Survey: STEM Jobs in West Virginia in 2015, commissioned by TechConnect WV and the West Virginia Department of Commerce.

The Communities That Work Partnership, a national project to support industry-led workforce development efforts, has released seven case studies highlighting what it considers to be best practices for regions seeking ways to strengthen talent pipelines for local employers and improve access to quality employment for jobseekers. Launched in April 2015 by the Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative and the Economic Development Administration, with additional support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the partnership has two goals: to accelerate regional economic development through peer learning, and to document stories of how regional teams can improve links between the demand side and supply side of regional systems.

On September 2, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced $7.2 million in funding for the newly established Texas Industry Cluster Innovative Academies. An element of Gov. Abbott’s Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative established in March 2016, the initiative will provide competitive grant funding to establish Innovative Academies within Texas high schools to provide students with learning opportunities in high-demand occupations while earning college course credit prior to high school graduation.

Addressing what it believes is a global skills gap in IT and job displacement resulting from automation, the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched an initiative that is seeking to reach 1 million people with resources and training opportunities by January 2021. The SkillSET portal is intended to help users acquire the skills and education to adapt to an increasingly digital workplace.

Workforce development programs and apprenticeships continue to win favor in many of the governors’ state budget proposals. In our latest review of TBED initiatives being proposed in state budgets, we found Kansas asking for additional funds for research, worker training and apprenticeships; Massachusetts is looking to double community college scholarship funding and increase several workforce development initiatives; and in Michigan, skilled trades training would receive a boost.

Kansas

The Appalachian Regional Commission has released a request for proposals for the 2018 POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Program.

Investments in STEM education, apprenticeship programs, and tech-focused tuition assistance are among a handful of proposals included in the “Marshall Plan for Talent” last Thursday. The plan includes $100 million in talent investments and utilizes a three-pronged approach to training by addressing K-12 education, higher education and the state’s existing workforce. The funds would come from savings due to a state bond refinancing, according to the governor.