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A new report ranks Arizona and Maricopa County as national leaders in adding skilled jobs and workers over the past five years. For the sixth time in the past seven years, Maricopa County has been ranked No. 1 in the world. Human resources attractiveness scorecard Released by Rightcast, the world leader in labor market analysis. The 2023 rankings also revealed that Maricopa County ranked first in the nation in attracting talent for the fourth consecutive year.

“There is no better place in the nation for skilled workers than Arizona,” said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority.

Contributing to the state's top ranking were strong ratings in the following areas:

• 2nd most competitive-Maricopa County
• 3rd highest employment growth – Arizona had the third-highest job growth rate, ahead of Florida and Texas.
• 5th highest growth rate for skilled jobs – Arizona has the fifth highest percentage of skilled jobs that require more formal education or advanced training.

Arizona's attractiveness to new residents is heavily reflected in the rankings.Of all the counties in the United States, Maricopa County maximum numerical population growth In 2022, 56,831 new residents will be added.

The report reflects Arizona's highly collaborative and innovative workforce development program and continued attractiveness to leading companies in areas such as manufacturing and technology.

In 2021, the state Drive48 released, a state-of-the-art training center south of Phoenix that brings together Central Arizona University, Pinal County, and industry. Since opening, more than 2,600 Lucid employees have completed programming. Programming features hands-on training with assembly robots and other equipment essential to manufacturing electric vehicles.

Building on the success of Drive48, earlier this year Governor Hobbs announced First two of up to six Future48 Employee Accelerators. The Regional Workforce Accelerator, announced in June, represents a partnership with Mojave Community College in Kingman and Arizona Western College in Yuma.

In November, Governor Hobbs announced The third Future48 Workforce Accelerator is located in Maricopa County and focuses on the semiconductor industry.

Also in November, Governor Hobbs announced significant actions to strengthen Arizona's semiconductor talent pipeline. This effort includes the first of its kind. Registered training programis a partnership between ACA, OEO, DES, and NXP, an advanced semiconductor manufacturer that operates two fabs in Chandler. The company's program will start with industrial manufacturing engineer positions, with plans to consider other positions in the future.

The state also states that “ Arizona Advanced Technology Networkwhile continuing to invest in skills training at universities and community colleges.

Read more Phoenix area stories at Signals AZ.com.

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