Reversing the Brain Drain
Developing, retaining and attracting an educated workforce are keys to Massachusetts’ economic future.
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| Paul Guzzi, President and CEO, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce |
Each year, colleges and universities in the Greater Boston area graduate tens of thousands of students — a talented pool of potential recruits for local businesses. Yet, according to a 2003 study by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and The Boston Foundation, half of these students leave the area after graduating. If this trend is allowed to continue, it will have serious implications for Greater Boston’s knowledge-based economy.
The good news is that 80 percent of those who do leave depart for reasons that can be addressed through strategies that align local job opportunities with graduates’ skills and interests, create additional workforce housing, and do other things to make Greater Boston an even greater place to live.
Over the last several years, the Chamber has partnered with government and business leaders to address these and related economic development issues through a series of initiatives focused on developing, retaining and attracting an educated workforce.
For example, to promote talent retention and job growth, the Chamber is advocating legislation that would provide a state tax credit to employers that help subsidize a college student’s tuition in exchange for the student’s commitment to work for that company after graduation. This would give participating employers a jump on identifying prospective talent and would help students cover the cost of their education while connecting with future employers.
Another Chamber-sponsored talent retention proposal before the state legislature would expand successful workforce training and retraining initiatives in the state’s community college system to include four-year public colleges and universities.
The Chamber is working on other fronts as well: to expand the capacity of minority firms; to continue reforms in the state’s K-12 education system, including efforts aimed at increasing student skills in math and science; and to promote economic opportunities for women in business through programs that help foster business relationships and career enhancement.
We also work closely with companies such as Microsoft, which, as a major contributor to the state’s IT economy, is investing in a range of local workforce development programs. For example, Metro South/West and the Boston Private Industry Council received grants last year to teach computer skills to young, unskilled adults, the homeless, and residents of low-income housing. Microsoft also partners with Easter Seals Massachusetts to provide computer-skills training for people with disabilities; with the non-profit Center for Women & Enterprise, which helps women start and grow their own businesses; and with Year Up Boston, which works with urban young adults to help them develop job skills and gain work experience.
By working collaboratively with leaders in business, education and government, we can develop, retain and attract the kind of talent necessary for the region’s businesses to compete effectively in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century.
