A new Georgia act, effective next month, requires the state’s Workforce Development Board to publish a high-demand career list annually. 

Gov. Brian Kemp signed HB982 in May after the bill passed both the House and Senate earlier this year. 

“I could not be prouder of the growth we are witnessing across the state and the amount of opportunity that is being created with it,” Kemp said in a press release. “But every new job created requires a hardworking Georgian to fill it, and thanks to our partners in the General Assembly, we are once again able to take forward-thinking action that keeps our state positioned as a model for the nation in developing our workforce for the jobs of today and the economy of tomorrow.”

The act requires the board to use a data-driven process including labor market information and employment data to determine future growing and declining industries, occupations, skills, and credentials. 

It requires the board to include the skills, certificates, licenses, diplomas, degrees, or other credentials required by employers for the high-demand careers on the list. 

“All state agencies and political subdivisions of the state, including local school systems, shall utilize the High-demand Career List to inform their use of federal and state funding for secondary, postsecondary, and adult education programs that lead to certificates, licenses, diplomas, degrees, or other credentials of value in careers on the list to ensure alignment with such list and effective use of funding by such entities,” the act says. 

The High-Demand Career Initiatives Program (HDCI) also should utilize the list, the act says. 

The list should be published annually on or before Dec. 31 on the state’s Workforce Development Board’s public website, the act says. 

In 2022, Kemp and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) announced $1 million in awards for an apprenticeship program through the High Demand Career Initiative. 

According to TCSG’s website, HDCI already keeps a list of occupations it finds are Georgia’s key industries that are in demand, pay an above-average entry-level wage, and are strong options for pursuing a successful career in Georgia. 

The list includes: 

• • Aerospace 
  • Agribusiness
  • Business Services
  • Construction 
  • Education
  • Energy & Environment 
  • Entertainment 
  • Hospitality and Tourism 
  • Life Sciences 
  • Logistics
  • Manufacturing 

Nationally, the repair industry typically finds itself at the top of lists for careers with worker shortages. Payscale reported earlier this year that repairers were the fourth in-demand job in 2023. The medium pay was $52,100 in 2023, an increase of 21% from 2022.

“There is a shortage of automotive technicians due to an aging population, low pay, and a rising number of older cars,” the report said. “People are keeping their vehicles for longer, and older cars have become especially popular in the last year or two as rising interest rates have made new car purchases less affordable. In addition, interest in postsecondary programs in the automotive sector has dropped, likely due to less competitive salaries compared to other lines of work.”

Data for the report was pulled from 774,307 U.S. respondents who completed a salary profile on Payscale. It says median pay for positions will vary depending on geographic and business characteristics.

“Generally, larger companies and coastal cities have higher median pay, which would be represented more in traditional salary surveys,” the report said.

IMAGES

Photo of inside Georgia State Capital courtesy of Paula Jones/iStock