Texas’ long-running growth streak is starting to look a little shaky, and state and local leaders are pointing the finger at one surprisingly basic problem: where kids go while their parents work.
At a 30th-anniversary luncheon for Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas in Hurst, economists, workforce officials and regional leaders warned that without stronger investments in child care, skills training and a more adaptable workforce, the state’s economic engine could start to sputter. Costly child care, rapid-fire tech changes and slowing migration mean Texas cannot simply rely on the old growth playbook anymore.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas economist Pia Orrenius called artificial intelligence “the biggest change of our lifetimes” and pushed for a fast pivot to protect Texas’ competitive edge, according to The Dallas Morning News. Orrenius, a vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, focuses on regional growth and labor markets, and her research informs much of the state’s planning on talent and demographics (Dallas Fed).
Texas Workforce Commission chair Joe Esparza said that for companies sizing up communities, workforce issues are now at the top of the checklist. He zeroed in on child care as a stubborn hiring hurdle. “About 60% of working parents would be in the workforce if they were to find child care,” Esparza said, as reported by The Dallas Morning News.
Child Care’s Economic Toll
A policy brief from the LBJ School at The University of Texas at Austin estimates that inadequate child care drains roughly $11.4 billion a year from the Texas economy in lost productivity and revenue for parents, businesses and taxpayers. The brief also flags rising infant-care costs and a post-pandemic drop in licensed child care slots, trends that local leaders say are squeezing North Central Texas employers and training programs (LBJ School, UT Austin).
State Moves And Where Employers Fit
State agencies are trying to plug some of those gaps. The Texas Workforce Commission has rolled out employer-focused child care supports and is chairing a Quad Agency initiative that coordinates child care efforts across multiple state agencies, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
Terry Zrubek, deputy executive director for Texas Economic Development and Tourism, told the crowd that coordinated permitting and solid infrastructure, combined with strong talent pipelines, help convince global firms to put down roots in Texas. That pitch has already helped land marquee deals such as Samsung’s semiconductor investment in Taylor, Texas (Community Impact).
What It Means For North Central Texas
Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas covers a 14-county region and now finds itself acting as a kind of regional matchmaker. Local boards, colleges and employers are being pushed to weave together jobs, training and child care into a single pipeline that parents and businesses can actually use.
The agency has launched interactive labor-market dashboards and career-lattice tools to help job seekers and employers line up skills with job openings (Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas).
Leaders at the luncheon urged employers to test on-site care, flexible schedules and training partnerships, while pushing policymakers to keep funding steady and cut through regulations that slow expansion. In the coming months, employer-backed pilots and Quad Agency recommendations will show whether these policy tweaks can actually translate into parents on the job and big-ticket projects moving from proposal to reality.
