It used to be that people moved to where the companies and jobs were located. But times have changed and relocating to land a job is not as common. Individuals and families are moving to attractive regions like Denver South that offer a strong quality of life, therefore creating densities of skilled workers. What we’ve seen over the past three to five years is that now it’s companies chasing talent, as opposed to the other way around. Given that new reality, it’s not surprising that Colorado and Denver South are reaping both the benefits and challenges.
When companies contact us, their first questions aren’t about incentives, taxes, or office space. Their first questions are about the availability of a trained workforce and the ease of hiring. The ability to find and recruit talent equates to time and money to private sector investors in Denver South. That’s why Denver South is focused on developing and promoting the highly qualified workforce in our region.
Our knowledge about the region’s talent allows us to encourage and facilitate well-paying jobs in the region. With the help of the local workforce center, Arapahoe/Douglas Works!, we are identifying areas of expertise that are most common among our workforce. Whether its engineering degrees and experience, a financial background, or the ability to code software; this workforce expertise is what we communicate to companies looking to open offices or expand in the area.
Denver South’s pool of talent is impressively deep in several different sectors. For example, engineering services employment in the region is 3.2 times more concentrated than the national average. In fact, the Denver South region had the highest engineering employment concentration out of any of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in 2018. The region is also home to nearly 20,750 IT/software and electronics workers with an employment concentration of 6.5%.
With knowledge like this, we are able to target proactive outreach to companies that would be most likely to prosper within the Denver South economy and region. Our staff identifies companies across the country and the world that are paying more in their home market to acquire comparable talent, that are experiencing growth, and are in industries that depend on certain skills to grow.
Understanding that businesses can’t be successful unless they have access to skilled workers, Denver South is doing what it takes to identify and communicate the depth of the region’s workforce. We are helping create an infrastructure that ensures a strong talent pipeline for years to come.
Interested in learning more about the talent pipeline in Denver South? We’re here to help.
