Thank you to the 1,950 businesses representing 8,355 business locations in New York State employing more than 130,000 workers who responded to the Business Workforce Survey in March 2021.
The survey results can be found here.
The goals of this survey were to:
- Understand the current and anticipated future needs of the business community, specifically as they relate to hiring needs, skills gaps and training.
- Better outline, based on data, where and how to position resources related to training and hiring programs and initiatives.
In July 2021, we held a series of virtual meetings to discuss the survey results and opportunities with regional stakeholders. With these survey results, The Business Council of New York State and the New York State Department of Labor will seek to close the gaps in training and education opportunities pairing training providers with industry leaders and necessary resources.
July 28, 2021 – Governor Cuomo announced the launch of the second round of the $175 million Workforce Development Initiative. This second round of funding makes $48 million available to support strategic regional efforts that help New Yorkers find quality, well-paid jobs and meet businesses' short-term workforce needs, improve regional talent pipelines, enhance the flexibility and adaptability of local workforce entities, expand apprenticeships and address the long-term needs of growing industries. In this second call for applications, the Workforce Development Initiative will bring together the resources, plans, and perspectives of multiple state agencies and authorities, the Regional Economic Development Councils, nonprofit training providers and private sector employers to further New York's goal to Reimagine, Rebuild, and Renew from the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications for the initiative will open on Monday, August 2nd.
View Full Press Release Workforce Development Initiative Program Guidebook Workforce Development Initiative Program Guidelines
We will continue to have conversations with stakeholders from across the state to discuss how to leverage these and other resources for training and education programs designed to close skill gaps, particularly those highlighted in the Business Workforce Survey Results.