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Washington Roundtable projects 1.5 million job openings over next decade, urges focus on bachelor’s degrees and high‑value credentials
Summary
Business group told the Senate committee that Washington will see large net job openings over the next decade and recommended prioritizing bachelor’s degree production plus targeted community college credentials, apprenticeships and employer‑led training.
The Washington Roundtable told the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee that Washington is projected to see roughly 1.5 million job openings over the next 10 years, and the business association urged a state strategy that increases bachelor’s‑degree production while also expanding high‑value technical credentials, apprenticeships and employer‑led training.
Neil Stregi, vice president of the Washington Roundtable, said the group projects 1.5 million job openings driven partly by retirements (about 910,000 retirements) and by job growth. "We think that Washington's job growth will be well above the national average," he told the committee, while acknowledging projections are subject to economic and policy changes.
The nut graf: The Roundtable recommended an "all‑of‑the‑above" approach to increasing bachelor’s degrees; prioritizing community and technical college credentials that map to high‑demand occupations; supporting employer‑led training; and aligning K–12 with postsecondary pathways. Stregi noted that projected new openings have a higher credential requirement than current job mixes and that the largest future demand category is bachelor’s degrees.
Stregi described six industry clusters the Roundtable highlights for state workforce strategy: business management; clean technology; advanced computing; construction and skilled trades; education (including early childhood and K–12 teachers); and health care. He said the largest category of future credential demand is for bachelor’s degrees and that credential gaps are particularly large for bachelor’s attainment and for short‑term certifications/apprenticeships.
On artificial intelligence, Stregi said the Roundtable left AInet effects neutral in their projection because AI could both reduce and create jobs; Washington is both a user and producer of AI technologies. He also noted that the state’s persistent in‑migration has not eliminated credential gaps: "Even at those historic levels of in migration, we still have gaps," he said.
Stregi argued the mismatch between the state’s training system and employer needs could become a limiting factor for economic growth if credential production does not rise where demand is highest. He recommended: increasing bachelor’s‑degree production from multiple sources; promoting high‑value, high‑demand community and technical college credentials; focusing credential production on occupations of highest need; expanding employer‑led training and Career Connect Washington‑style partnerships; and better aligning K–12 and postsecondary systems.
Ending: The Roundtable presented data and recommendations for legislative consideration; Stregi and the business association said more granular, regional occupational data and employer engagement will be necessary to operationalize the recommendations.
