{"id":162710,"date":"2026-02-20T16:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162710\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T16:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T16:15:08","slug":"orlando-economic-partnership-earns-national-recognition-for-advancing-skills-first-workforce-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162710\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Economic Partnership Earns National Recognition for Advancing Skills-First Workforce Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"detail\">The OEP was selected as one of only 12 organizations nationwide to join the\u00a0Jobs for the Future\u2019s Inquiry into Building Regional Skills First Ecosystems initiative<\/p>\n<p>The Orlando Economic Partnership (OEP) has been selected by\u00a0Jobs for the Future (JFF)\u00a0to receive funding through its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/info.jff.org\/inquiry-into-building-regional-skills-first-ecosystems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Inquiry into Building Regional Skills-First Ecosystems<\/a>\u00a0initiative, which will use community-informed insights and ideas to lay the foundation for support for regional, skills-based economies. <\/p>\n<p>As one of 12\u00a0regionally based\u00a0organizations\u00a0participating\u00a0nationwide, OEP will partner with JFF and local stakeholders across Central Florida to examine the conditions, opportunities, and challenges involved in advancing skills-based talent management practices and building a robust and responsive skills-first ecosystem across the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Through this initiative,\u00a0which is made possible through generous support from Walmart,\u00a0OEP will engage\u00a0cross-sector\u00a0partners\u00a0from\u00a0education, workforce,\u00a0industry, and community organizations to\u00a0learn more about their activities, resources, and needs for advancing skills-based practices. <\/p>\n<p>JFF defines skills-based talent management as an approach\u00a0that\u00a0prioritizes\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0skills\u2014rather than degrees or traditional credentials\u2014as the primary currency for hiring, advancement, and talent development. <\/p>\n<p>A skills-first labor market or ecosystem is one where employers, educators, workforce systems, and policymakers are aligned around valuing, developing, and signaling skills, supported by digital tools, data infrastructure, and policies that make skills visible, portable, and trusted across systems.<\/p>\n<p>During the first half of 2026,\u00a0community-driven\u00a0insights\u00a0will inform\u00a0an actionable set of next steps for making skills-first strategies a reality in the region.\u00a0If selected to\u00a0proceed\u00a0to the Implementation Phase of this effort,\u00a0additional\u00a0funding and support\u00a0will be provided by JFF to\u00a0begin putting these action plans into practice to strengthen pathways to quality jobs and more inclusive economic opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This effort will be informed by insights from the OEP\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/business.orlando.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/Closing-the-Gap-Orlando-Talent-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Closing the Gap: 2025 Orlando Talent Report<\/a>, which highlights misalignment between the skills employers need and how talent is currently prepared, identified, and connected to available roles across Central Florida. The findings underscore the opportunity for employers to benefit from skills\u2011first practices that expand access to qualified talent, improve hiring efficiency, and better align workforce strategies with real business needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The OEP was selected as one of only 12 organizations nationwide to join the\u00a0Jobs for the Future\u2019s Inquiry&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-162710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}