State officials say they’re making progress in developing the state’s work force, but challenges remain around education levels and federal funding.
In a presentation Tuesday in Albuquerque, Secretary Sarita Nair, of the Department of Workforce Solutions, told state lawmakers about initiatives to prepare people for careers in STEM – science, technology, engineering, and math.
One challenge, said Nair, is that there’s a "mismatch" between the educational profile of New Mexicans over 25 and what STEM fields require.
That imbalance was most clear around higher education.
According to data from the Workforce department, 70 percent of STEM jobs require a bachelor’s degree, but only 17 percent of New Mexicans over the age of 25 have reached that level of education.
Currently there are about 240 people in the department’s STEM pre-apprenticeship program, Nair said during this week’s Legislative Finance Committee hearing.
It’s hoped it’ll expand thanks to an infusion of $600,000 in state funds earmarked in 2024 for use this year.
About 20 percent of all of the state’s pre-apprenticeship programs are in the STEM area, and about 26 percent are in the skilled trades, ranging from construction and transportation to the electrical and plumbing fields.
The Department of Workforce Solutions relies heavily on federal dollars.
During the meeting, Nair broke down the potential impact if proposed cuts are approved.
"My department is 90% federal funded. The proposed cuts to the workforce system are pretty extreme. The current federal budget proposal eliminates Wagner-Peyser, which I call the big front door to the workforce system, Title Three, It eliminates adult education, which of course we all love. It eliminates AmeriCorps and Job Corps and then rolls all the other programs together and cuts them by 33 percent."
One existing program has provided job training to inmates in the corrections system.
Nair said that a class of 11 women at the Springer Correctional Center recently completed a course in which each participant earned a commercial driver’s license.
