Workforce Development
Field Ready Training Academy is doing more than teaching skilled trades. Based in Hampton, South Carolina, the organization is building a broader platform for workforce development, entrepreneurship and storytelling in the trades — one designed to open doors for future workers while honoring the value and history of hands-on careers.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 turned the labor market upside down. Job losses shot up and many businesses, if they were able to stay open, experienced significant drops in revenue. Today, the situation is the opposite. Businesses have experienced significant growth over the last two years and job openings currently surpass pre-pandemic levels. In fact, although the labor market started to cool in 2023, recent data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce show that North Carolina, like so many other states, has more jobs than workers – 61 workers available for every 100 job openings.