Mayor Kevin Faulconer joined local educational leaders at Qualcomm to announce a workforce development program aimed at encouraging science and technology careers among the city’s underserved communities.
“There is a growing chasm between good paying, middle-class job openings and workers with the skills to fill them,” Faulconer said. “Today, we are taking action to help our residents gain the education they need to begin a successful career and bring economic opportunity to our underserved communities.”
The eight-point program will focus public and private workforce dollars on five high-growth, high-wage industry sections — advanced manufacturing, clean energy, healthcare, information technology and biotechnology.
Faulconer made the announcement at Qualcomm’s Thinkabit Lab, where 6th- to 8th-grade students from all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds learn electronics, programming and robotics, and are introduced to the “world of work.”
Ed Hidalgo, leader of the lab, said 6,300 students have trained over the past year, many of whom had little exposure to engineering. Some, he said, had never ridden an elevator before.
“We have students who have never crossed the 8 freeway come to Qualcomm,” he said, adding that students become inspired to pursue careers they never knew existed.
The city’s new workforce program will enlist the help of local employers like Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and SeaWorld to replicate the ThinkaBit Lab experiences at five locations throughout the community.
Also part of the effort are “bridge programs” for graduating high school seniors in the San Diego Community College District.
“The reality is that in our new era, there are jobs that are different than even the jobs of the 20th centry,” said Constance Carroll, chancellor of the district.
The mayor also pledged to create economic incentives for businesses in the five targeted tech sectors to open and expand in neighborhoods like City Heights and southeastern San Diego.
“We re going to hit at the core of what blocks opportunities for our underserved communities,” Faulconer said.
