Building an Inclusive, High–Skilled Workforce for New Orleans’ Next Economy

This report examines 2010 census data, ACS data, and other data sets to answer questions, like - how does the New Orleans regional workforce stack up in the New Economy? And how can we leverage our diverse workforce to take advantage of new economic opportunities? Included are population projections by race/ethnicity and age through 2030. The report finds that although recent economic news coming out of New Orleans is good, the jobs of the Next Economy require higher education levels than our metro workforce has achieved. To continue our recent economic successes, business and civic leaders must work together to build a more high–skilled workforce for the New Orleans metro. By 2030, the authors’ project that the working age population of the metro will be “majority minority,” so workforce building efforts must be inclusive as well.