Florida leads in "talent attraction" and becomes the state with the highest "skilled workforce development"
"By keeping Florida free and open, we create a positive economic environment.... We lead in net migration and talent attraction," said Governor Ron DeSantis.
Florida ranks first in the nation in "attracting and developing a skilled workforce," according to an annual "talent attraction" list published by Lightcast, a company that describes itself as "the global leader in labor market analytics."
The study was created "to help communities know how they are doing in the mission to attract and develop talent" in the workplace. Results were obtained by measuring, over a five-year period, different areas of growth in the states included: net county migration (adding new residents), educational attainment, skilled job creation, the competitive effect, and the average annual number of job openings in firms.
15 counties in the Sunshine State ranked among the top 50 list. Five were in the top 20: Hillsborough County (#8), Polk (#10), Lee (#12), St Johns (#18) and Pasco (#20).
Florida #1 in all categories
Florida ranked first in educational attainment, jobs, skilled jobs, 2020 migration, competitive effect and skilled job openings.
Adding more than 388,000 residents between 2016 and 2020, Florida led the "largest net migration" category with nearly double the net migration gains of Texas, which ranked second in the report. In the words of the state Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Secretary Dane Eagle:
The DEO is working with various state partners to grow and strengthen the state's workforce, including making "strategic investments to meet the workforce demands of Florida's businesses and keep the state's economy strong," he said.
Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed his Administration's commitment to an open economy and its emphasis on training and developing workers with technical skills and credentials.