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At every age and education level, labor force participation in Puerto Rico is lower than the U.S. overall

• Younger workers and less educated workers especially have low participation rates.
• Puerto Rico has extensive informal employment.

There are numerous challenges to broad workforce development policy in Puerto Rico

• Puerto Rico experiences fluctuating outmigration rates relative to the continental U.S. which are of particular concern in skilled industries such as healthcare.
• Although cost of living is lower in Puerto Rico, nearly all jobs pay more in the continental U.S., and certain jobs have much higher pay.

The postsecondary education system has issues of affordability and fragmentation

• Puerto Rico has a large, public four-year university system with highly subsidized tuition; however, it is still unaffordable to a broad swath of Puerto Rico's population.
• Puerto Rico does not have a large, public two-year university system, and instead a high number of for-profit colleges.

Education and training opportunities for occupations in high demand are not well aligned

• Any long-term workforce development policies or strategies must therefore encompass training and education across the spectrum of education levels.
• Lack of clarity and uniformity here jeopardizes the value of an individual's training and education credentials and in turn makes it difficult to gauge the returns on human capital investment.

One strategic goal in the post-hurricane recovery plan for Puerto Rico is the development of a modern workforce with relevant skills to meet the demands of an evolving labor market. To begin, Puerto Rico must first overcome the acute workforce challenges and structural problems that have impeded economic growth for more than a decade. The authors set out a course of action that strengthens the K–12 and post-secondary education and training system, develops career pathways for individual workers that would improve their employment trajectories, and better aligns workers' skills with employment opportunities and the needs of local businesses.

More specifically, the authors present four strategies to address short-term workforce shortages and needs. A critical fifth strategy then reimagines Puerto Rico's entire workforce development system to support Puerto Rico's economic development and community well-being. This longer-term strategy can be implemented in tandem with any of the short-term strategies, depending on which strategies the government of Puerto Rico decides to implement. Any long-term workforce development policies or strategies must, however, encompass training and education across the spectrum of education levels, from high school diplomas to technical certificates to master's degree and higher. The report includes recommendations to improve Puerto Rico's workforce development system cross-industry and specific recommendations for construction, health care, energy, and education industries. With government-industry-education planning, these longer-term policies and initiatives could better link job opportunities by municipality, occupation, and industry and ultimately propel economic development in Puerto Rico.

• Chapter One:

  Introduction

• Chapter Two:

  Historical Context and Current Challenges for the Workforce System in Puerto Rico

• Chapter Three:

  Acute Workforce Needs as Puerto Rico Recovers from Hurricanes Irma and Maria

• Chapter Four:

  Macro Estimates of Labor Supply Constraints to Puerto Rico's Recovery

• Chapter Five:

  Strategies for Developing a Workforce in Puerto Rico to Meet Short- and Long-Term Needs

• Chapter Six:

  Implementing the Workforce Development System Framework to Support a 21st-Century Workforce in Puerto Rico

• Chapter Seven:

  Conclusions

• Appendix A:

  Full Text of Economic Team's Implement Workforce Development Programs COA

• Appendix B:

  Data Sources and Analytic Approaches

• Appendix C:

  Postsecondary Institutions in Puerto Rico, December 2018

• Appendix D:

  Recommendation to Improve Puerto Rico's Workforce Development System by Industry