Columbus, Georgia (WRBL) — The Georgia Chamber of Commerce will travel through the Peach State on its New Georgia Economy Tour, stopping in 12 economic regions.
The annual tour is designed to provide information to help businesses and communities understand the changes impacting the state’s economy and plan for the future.
We feel very bullish about our state’s economy right now. [There have been] Under Governor Kemp, there have been 2,200 announcements over five years, $134 billion worth of investments, and 270,000 new jobs created in Georgia over the past five years. Texas might outperform us a little bit. We must admit that they are 10 times bigger than us. In the next 5-10 years, Georgia will become her fifth most populous state.
Chris Clark, Georgia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO
Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, spoke on several topics including the future of the workforce. Clark predicts there will be challenges in workforce development over the next six years.
Fewer high school students are graduating these days. That will probably be the case for the next 10 years. In other words, the number of university students and the working population will decrease. The baby boomer generation will retire. Over the next six years, there will be nearly 6 million job openings in America. And finally, there’s artificial intelligence. 12 million Americans will essentially have their jobs outsourced to AI. These tend to be low-skill jobs and require the skills of these individuals to be improved. And there will be plenty of opportunities. There are many possibilities. But we need to think hard about how we think about workforce development and talent readiness.
Chris Clark, Georgia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO
Clark said during his presentation that Columbus is a city of great importance to Georgia’s overall economy. The chamber concluded the meeting by pledging to work with Gov. Brian Kemp and other state leaders on a long-term strategy.