Last year, twenty-four strategic research projects illuminated talent opportunities across the United States.
Leaders and researchers representing higher education, workforce development, economic development, chambers of commerce, and industry associations have realized the imperative of a data-informed strategy to position their workforce for the jobs of today and tomorrow. The Lightcast Professional Services team had the honor of working with twenty-four diverse states, regions, and organizations in 2023 to dive deep into their labor markets, industries, and economy. We uncovered some critical labor market gaps, but also unique opportunities for states and communities to reposition their workforce to meet the demands of emerging technologies and sectors.
The following map highlights the investments our clients made last year to obtain a more granular understanding of the opportunity to achieve greater workforce mobility and community prosperity.
Research Trends in 2024
Based on the trends from our current work, 2024 is the “seize the moment” year for many states, regions, and industries. Emerging sectors such as AI, semiconductors, EV, cybersecurity, and green jobs present transformative job opportunities for skilled workers and economic growth for regional economies. Many states, regions, and organizations will continue to measure the impact of these opportunities and the performance of their investments. Economic development and workforce development organizations will expand their work toward the same goals of talent development and attraction. Workforce equity will continue to grow as an essential element to economic and workforce development planning - with the goal of prosperity for all. Finally, after our research and strategies have been delivered, many organizations will monitor their industry and labor market performance using sophisticated dashboards, portals, and software. In an age of continued disruption, we know that organizations will continue to demand the best objective research, insights, and solutions to make data-informed decisions for their communities.
Drawing from our broad experience in 2023, Lightcast is pleased to offer the following solutions to continue helping our clients meet these demands in 2024 and beyond:
Custom research and strategies focused on skills, credentials, migration, and talent for target and emerging sectors
Economic impact studies for workforce development, economic development, and higher education
Talent Migration Dashboard providing the world’s best data visualization of the migration of talent using a proprietary dataset and platform
eIMPACT dashboards, Custom Career Portals, and custom data visualization solutions to spotlight opportunities in your region
Lightcast Developer for access to the best on-demand labor market information and data on diverse workforce populations
Gazelle for identifying growing and expanding companies
Career Coach to provide simplified career exploration for local jobseekers
If these examples, stories, and trends resonate with you, or sound like something your community or industry could benefit from, please let us know. We’d be honored to learn more about your specific needs and explore how our insights can help.
About Lightcast Professional Services
We help communities and governments prepare their talent for the jobs of today, and tomorrow.
Our team of experts serve higher education, workforce development, economic development, industry associations, and governments by providing intelligence and strategies to address current and future talent demands. Together, we can build a future-ready workforce prepared to not just survive, but thrive in an age of disruption.
