Valued Voice

The Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment, the state-designated group charged with aiding Wisconsin employers in finding the workers they need and providing resources to enable workers to access training for in-demand careers, met on Feb. 21, 2024. Members of the council include a majority of business leaders, as well as state legislators and local elected officials, representatives from educational institutions, community-based organizations and labor representatives from across the state. Wisconsin health care is represented by WHA Senior Vice President of Workforce and Clinical Practice Ann Zenk and Aurora BayCare Medical Center President Thomas Miller.
 
Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary-designee Amy Pechacek began the council’s first meeting of 2024 with a recap of the Wisconsin records set in 2023: lowest unemployment rate, record number of jobs, record number of apprenticeships and apprentices, and a Wisconsin labor force participation rate 3% higher than the national labor rate. Also in 2023, Wisconsin launched a first-in-the-nation registered nurse apprenticeship. Pechacek then led the council in a discussion of artificial intelligence which she termed the fourth Industrial Revolution.
 
Zenk and Miller provided an update on health care workforce initiatives underway, including the launch of the WHA Foundation’s health care career promotion digital media campaign and website, and how health care employers like Aurora BayCare are meeting the challenge of engaging, retaining and caring for health care employees in a 24/7/365 setting.
 
Every three years the Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment assists DWD in crafting a statewide workforce development strategy, the Wisconsin Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Plan. The council completed the planning process with the approval of the 2024-2027 plan at the February meeting.
 
Contact Ann Zenk with questions about the council or other workforce issues.