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MASSACHUSETTS’S ABILITY TO compete is anchored by our greatest asset – our people – and ensuring jobseekers, current workers, and future workers can pursue a path to good jobs in growing industries across all regions of the state.

Recent commentary in CommonWealth Beacon rightly focused attention on the residents whose skills and potential remain underutilized. And they’re right that our economic future depends not only on attracting and retaining talent, but on making sure the talent already here can access good jobs and growing industries.

However, the suggestion that Massachusetts has overlooked that opportunity is incorrect. In fact, it is at the center of the Healey-Driscoll administration’s workforce agenda focused on attracting, retaining, and developing talent; leading by example; and improving infrastructure to connect employers and talent.

Massachusetts has both enormous economic strengths and real workforce pressures. Our labor force participation rate has surpassed its pre-pandemic level, with nearly 80,000 more people participating in the labor market than before COVID. Yet, with more than 215,000 jobs posted in June, alone, Massachusetts employers are still looking for skilled talent.

That is why talent attraction cannot be tied to job creation alone. In addition to upskilling and developing talent, talent attraction strategies must reduce barriers that often prevent talented people from securing employment.

The administration works across state agencies and with workforce partners to remove obstacles that prevent people from entering—and staying in—the workforce. From delivering a more affordable child care system and other caregiving initiatives to investing in English language learning contextualized for work, the administration continues to advance proven strategies to reduce barriers for employment. The most recent move to do so features the launch of “Massachusetts Advancing Pathways for International Talent” or MAP-IT, with a call for proposals from workforce partners to translate the skills of work-authorized immigrants with international credentials for careers in Massachusetts.

We have also prioritized upskilling our existing workforce, ensuring workers today can maintain competitive skills that, in turn, help employers operate in efficient and productive ways. Since January 2023, through the Workforce Training Fund Program, the administration has awarded $100 million to train and upskill more than 82,700 existing workers employed by nearly 4,000 Massachusetts employers. The Workforce Training Fund offers an effective model to reskill and retain existing workers across industries experiencing disruptions in technology, from advancements in manufacturing to the introduction of AI in the workplace.

Since Gov. Healey took office in 2023, the administration has invested nearly $235 million, through the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund (WCTF), Career Technical Initiative (CTI), and programming on re-entry, young adult with disabilities programs, and youth employment programs—all helping to prepare our future workforce. For the $129.7 million invested in WCTF and CTI, both tied to industry-recognized credentials and certificates, the administration has trained over 14,335 residents with a 74 percent average employment placement rate. Training should not conclude with a credential and a hope that a job exists. It should be informed by employers, connected to hiring needs, and designed to lead to a career with strong demand, family-sustaining wages, and opportunities for advancement.

One example is our Health Care and Behavioral Health Hub Grants through the WCTF. Through these regional partnerships, we have designed training programs that have prepared people for occupations like certified nursing assistants, medical assistants, behavioral health specialists, surgical technicians, and other high-demand health care roles.

Since 2023, the administration has invested over $46.1 million in health care-related workforce development grants through the WCTF to train 4,550 individuals for careers in health care with 55 employers in regions across the state.

The administration has also prioritized Registered Apprenticeship as a key strategy to develop talent, investing $13.5 million to expand programming while also expanding the Registered Apprenticeship Tax Credit. Since 2023, we have registered nearly 13,000 apprentices, leveraging this model to create jobs in construction, health care, life sciences, clean energy, early childhood education, and more.

Investments to develop unemployed and underemployed jobseekers are critical strategies to prepare future workers and connect this untapped talent with industries and with employers eager for talent.

Too many capable candidates are screened out because they do not hold a four-year degree, even when they possess the skills and experience needed to perform the job. In 2024, Gov. Healey signed an executive order establishing skills-based hiring practices throughout the executive branch.

To promote this practice across industries and expand our efforts, we launched the MassSkills Coalition. The coalition held several community learning sessions and its work has led to the Skills-First Hiring Toolkit, released in May to help private-sector employers make the same transition—from rewriting job descriptions and assessing candidates to strengthening onboarding and retention. Reducing unnecessary degree requirements expands opportunities for untapped talent. It is a practical response to employers who cannot afford to overlook qualified people.

We know navigating all of this can be daunting, for jobseekers, workers, and employers. As much as we continue to invest in career training, we need to invest in the infrastructure that connects talent to opportunities. We are modernizing tools across the MassHire system, most especially enhancing that front door experience to unlock a true talent marketplace for jobseekers and employers to connect.

Massachusetts’s greatest competitive asset has always been its people. Our task in government, in partnership with business, labor, academia, and all workforce partners, is to ensure that every resident can develop their talents, find a pathway into our economy, and build a future in Massachusetts. Our administration will continue to invest in our people, attract new talent, and strengthen our economic competitiveness.

Lauren Jones is the secretary of labor and workforce development.