A comprehensive plan to ensure that New Jersey is ready to lead the 21st century talent market.

Developing Talent to Grow Business in the Garden State builds on these plans with a collaborative effort to re-establish New Jersey’s leadership.

The Murphy Administration is hard at work implementing the Governor’s economic plan, “The State of Innovation: Building a Stronger and Fairer Economy in New Jersey,” and higher education plan, “Where Opportunity Meets Innovation: A Student-Centered Vision for New Jersey Higher Education.” 


Read the full Jobs NJ plan here:

Jobs NJ at a Glance


Jobs NJ has two mutually reinforcing objectives, each integral to the Governor’s vision of a stronger and fairer NJ:


1. Ensure all career-seeking New Jerseyans have the education and training necessary to access high-quality employment.

2. Ensure businesses and employers that are offering high-quality employment in New Jersey can quickly and efficiently fill their talent needs.

Opportunities for Growth

Talent is one of New Jersey’s strongest competitive advantages, but we must continue to enhance our Talent Development System, by focusing on three key opportunities:

  1. Support all New Jerseyans to obtain education and training
    and find high-quality jobs
  2. Better align Talent Development System programs and employer needs
  3. Connect employers and job-seekers

Strategies

Jobs NJ lays out three strategies to address New Jersey’s talent challenges from two sides: increasing the supply of qualified workers and creating talent solutions that connect companies to job-seekers:

  1. Expand access to opportunity
  2. Train individuals for in-demand jobs
  3. Match talent to jobs

In an increasingly competitive global labor market, New Jersey’s greatest asset is its people. Today, technology and innovation are disrupting legacy sectors and business models and creating entirely new, talent-driven industries. New Jersey is already well-positioned to succeed in this new economy, but in order to take full advantage of our incredible talent assets, the State must continue preparing students to thrive in their careers and opening new doors for people who are already working. This is particularly important for historically disadvantaged populations, who often face significant barriers to educational attainment.

Aspirations by 2025:

  • Increase educational attainment among historically disadvantaged populations by ensuring 250,000 additional Black, Latinx, and Native American individuals attain post-secondary credentials
  • Close the racial and gender wage and employment gaps by employing approximately 42,000 more women and minorities and achieving a $15,000-$23,000 increase in annual wages
  • Improve educational attainment in lagging regions of the state by raising postsecondary credential attainment in all counties to at least 45 percent

Technological disruptions in legacy economic sectors and new, innovation economy business models are creating historic changes in our training systems and labor markets. Preparing workers with the skills they need to succeed in modern jobs is critical not only to ensuring New Jerseyans are able to take advantage of the opportunities available to them, but also to growing businesses currently located in New Jersey and attracting new businesses from around the country and across the globe.

New Jersey’s top-ranked education system and highly-skilled workforce have put us in a position of strength. As the economy continues to change, stakeholders from across New Jersey’s Talent Development System, including higher education institutions, organized labor, government, nonprofits, and the business community, will have to work together to retain and train our talent in-state while simultaneously attracting new talent. This will require a multifaceted approach that adapts our education and training systems to meet the needs of the contemporary economy in which workers often have multiple jobs over the course of their careers, automation is replacing jobs that involve predictable cognitive or manual tasks, and companies’ skill needs are rapidly changing.

Aspirations by 2025:

  • Better connect education and training to industry needs by increasing the number 1 of post-secondary graduates employed in high-demand industries by 10 percent
  • Lead the region in preparing adults for in-demand jobs by ensuring that at least 25,000 additional adults enroll and graduate with a high-quality credential that helps them advance their careers

Connecting companies that need to fill positions with well-qualified job-seekers is critical not only to keeping businesses in New Jersey and attracting new companies to the state but also to making sure New Jersey residents are benefitting from the state’s expanding innovation economy. Fortunately, many New Jersey residents are already qualified for today’s jobs, and Governor Murphy’s investments in people are preparing the next generation of talent. To make sure companies can fill their positions with New Jersey workers and that workers from all backgrounds have equal access to these opportunities, the Administration will provide employers with coordinated assistance from the State to address their most pressing talent needs.


Aspirations by 2025:

  • Solve complex access-to-labor challenges by creating a Talent Action Roadmap process to craft and deliver custom talent development roadmaps for New Jersey businesses, with a goal of completing plans for at least 100 companies
  • Become a national model for hiring best practices and high-quality jobs by recognizing and celebrating Governor’s Choice employers, including an initial cohort of at least 200 exemplar employers
  • Ensure access to job-demand information for job-seekers by annually publishing enhanced materials on high-demand jobs and pathways to rewarding careers