TWC's Public Commissioner serves as the representative for the public, promoting and supporting the growth of Texas’ world-class employers and talented workforce. Chairman Bryan Daniel and his staff advance innovative workforce and economic development strategies in collaboration with education partners, local leaders, and industry to preserve Texas’ competitive edge as the best place to work in the world.
Middle Skills Initiative
Due to technological advances in the workplace, employment demand has dramatically increased for individuals with middle skills. Middle-skilled workers are defined as workers with some education beyond high school but less than a four-year degree.
Middle-skill jobs are the pillars of the Texas economy. They provide the basic infrastructure for the Lone Star State’s diverse industries, such as traditional and renewable energy, aerospace development, manufacturing, biomedical services, electronics, and construction. For Texas to stay at the top of the world’s largest economy, the state must continue its commitment to job creation, economic development and its workforce.
"The Texas economy is expanding and there are more than 800,000 jobs available for workers with the right skill set,” said Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Chairman Bryan Daniel. “Many of these jobs require very short-term training or education but can connect Texans to a lifetime of increased career potential and earnings.”
Originally launched in 2021, TWC’s strategic Middle Skills initiative framework includes funding for job creation, job preparedness, and job progression activities to help put more Texas workers on a path to a career in a rewarding middle skills job. Thousands of Texans have received services, with outcomes as of November 2024 including:
- 3178 Career Pathways mobile app users
- 1330 Employment Supportive Services provided
- 17,000 online occupational courses completed
- 532 career coaching participants
- 3688 Family Math Literacy sessions
With nearly 30 million individuals in 254 counties, including 6 of the largest cities in the nation, Texas benefits from significant economies of scale when it comes to attracting business and adding jobs; however, there is a difference in performance between the rural and more populated areas of the state. While Texas’ 25 largest counties make up 77 percent of the population and 82 percent of employment, 90 percent of Texas cities have a population under 25,000. Simply put, the 229 counties comprising rural Texas are competing for a quarter of the available resources.
Rural communities who have shown success in economic development and job creation have typically done so with a targeted approach. However, limited financial resources and infrastructure options often create additional challenges. TWC’s Workforce Strategy for Rural Texas, adopted in 2023, includes funding and support to reduce the skills gap between employer demands and workforce competencies in rural Texas, through:
- Convening a Rural Workforce Working Group and Rural Summit,
- Launch rural community “Training Labs,” short-term, turnkey raining opportunities in partnership with local government or community colleges,
- Reduce administrative barriers for rural applicants in existing grants, and
- Target outreach efforts to promote TWC’s rural strategy.
As businesses continue to hire in Texas, our state continues to break records for job creation and the labor force has reached historic highs. To continue this expansion, employers and communities need support. TWC is available as a primary resource for local cities, counties, and Economic Development organizations across Texas to address specific employer issues in their area.
Each region of the state, and each community within those regions, has a diverse set of needs with regard to economic and workforce development. TWC adopted a strategic initiative to help local communities identify their workforce needs, marshal their available resources, and connect them with tools TWC will develop and maintain to enhance the ability of a community to maximize employer job creation in that area.