The face of employment is changing in our region. Many workers are expected to retire soon, and new employees to fill those open positions will need skills that are vastly different from those of employees in the past. Our region’s business and industry have also evolved. Key industry sectors today include information and communications technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing. Employees in these sectors must have certain education and skills to be successful. Today’s students – tomorrow’s workforce – need to acquire the necessary education and skills now.

For the 21st-century Pittsburgh region, effective career education needs to be real-world. To achieve this, schools can enter into interactive partnerships with regional employers. Employers will help educators shape their career education so that all students in southwestern Pennsylvania’s school districts understand what job opportunities exist in the region and how they should prepare to secure those jobs. At the same time, employer-educator partnerships allow schools to develop innovative ways to meet new state education standards that include Career Education and Work standards for students in grades 3 – 12.

The Compact coordinates this effort and builds the regional workforce by building careers for students. Previously, career education activities have been offered piecemeal, and schools have not always been able to establish long-standing relationships with employers. The Compact seeks to facilitate these partnerships by forming a unique and dynamic career education network. This network will build up our region’s businesses and economy by building career opportunities for young people who want to continue to live and work in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Regional Compact is an employer-driven initiative collaboratively
sponsored by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, business
leaders, educators, students, educational institutions and workforce development
organizations across the 10-county Pittsburgh region.