Darlene Lynch, chair of the BIG (Business and Immigration for Georgia) Partnership, joined MAX on Friday, May 17th, to discuss the critical need to pursue occupational licensing reform and innovation when it comes to attracting and retaining global talent. While Georgia has been the number one state for business for several years in a row and had a record-setting year for jobs and investment, Lynch echoed other workforce experts in saying that the state is experiencing a workforce shortage crisis in health care, the skilled trades, and other sectors.
Regarding healthcare, Lynch provided some statistics to ponder when considering the problem:
- 1 out of 3 Georgians live in areas with no primary care physicians.
- Georgia will need to fill 240,000 healthcare positions by 2032.
- Georgia ranked 100 out of 100 in the nation for healthcare by Forbes in 2023.
- Georgia welcomes approximately 3,000 new Georgians from outside the country yearly and approximately 20 percent are doctors and medical aides.
- While Georgia is attracting experienced foreign-born healthcare professionals, most will have to start from scratch when it comes to entering into the healthcare workforce due to occupational licensing and other barriers.
Lynch reviewed a number of creative solutions for addressing the challenges in Georgia proposed by the BIG Partnership and informed by efforts underway in other states.
The session was hosted and moderated by MAX Past Chair Amy Lancaster-King, Principal & Chief Consultant, Long Game Solutions, LLC.
Click here to view a recording of the session.
Click here for the presentation slide deck.
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Launched in 2014, the mission of MAX is to advance economic competitiveness in the Atlanta region by strengthening connections, collaborations, and practices among workforce developers and organizations engaged in workforce development.
Through our webinar series, MAX Minutes, MAX seeks to bring timely insights to providers, intermediaries, and other partners in workforce. MAX Minutes features talks by key experts in the Atlanta region and beyond on important workforce matters.