The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and the Governor’s Workforce Arizona Council hosted the “2026 Arizona Workforce Summit: Connecting Today’s Skills to Tomorrow’s Opportunities” on June 9-10, a free, two-day event that brought together hundreds of industry leaders, educators and industry partners to address Arizona’s most pressing workforce challenges. It also honored local industry workforce partners and High-Impact Training programs at the Summit’s inaugural Champions for the Workforce Recognition Luncheon presented by South32.
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Arizona is projected to add more than 700,000 jobs by 2030 in high-tech manufacturing, healthcare, and other high-growth sectors. According to ManpowerGroup’s 2025 U.S. Talent Shortage Survey, 71% of employers now report difficulty finding skilled talent, more than double the 32% who said the same a decade ago. By 2060, retirement-age residents (65+) will grow to 30% of Arizona’s population (up from 23% in 2026), while the share of children will contract to 16%. Artificial intelligence is reshaping occupations faster than most workforce systems can respond. The 2026 Arizona Workforce Summit brought together Arizona’s workforce leaders, educators, industry partners, and policymakers to meet these challenges.
“Arizona’s workforce is growing, and the decisions we make today about training, education pathways and industry collaboration will shape economic opportunity for years to come,” said Mary Foote, Director, Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. “The 2026 Arizona Workforce Summit gave leaders across various sectors the data, the connections and the strategies they need to ensure that growth reaches every Arizonan. We built this summit to be the most actionable workforce event in the state and welcome Arizona’s brightest minds.”
The two-day summit at the Mesa Convention Center featured plenary sessions and focused breakout tracks that addressed six critical themes: AI and the future of work, industry transformation and talent pipelines, education-to-employment pathways, and data-driven accountability.
“Arizona cannot close its workforce gaps by working in silos. It takes government, industry, education and community partners working from the same data toward the same goals,” said John Walters, Chair of the Workforce Arizona Council. “This summit aligned strategy, elevated what is working and built the partnerships that open more doors for more Arizonans. Every leader who cares about this state’s economic future showed up in that room.”
Day 2 opened with a keynote address from Freddy Shegog, a nationally recognized speaker whose work focuses on unlocking potential and driving personal and professional transformation. That was followed by a packed day of 18 breakout sessions and the inaugural Champions for the Workforce Recognition Luncheon presented by South32, which honored the organizations and programs making a measurable difference for Arizona workers, including Excellence sponsors Amkor Technologies and Salt River Project. This includes the Industry Recognitions, sponsored by Amkor Technologies and Salt River Projects, for Awake Window and Door in Maricopa County, Air Control Home Services in Mohave County, Yuma County Local Government Partnership and South32 in Santa Cruz County. High-Impact Training recognitions honored 16 training providers for over 40 programs across the state.
“Arizona’s semiconductor industry is growing rapidly, and so is the demand for skilled workers to support it. Amkor Technologies alone plans to hire 2,000 people. We cannot fill those positions without the kind of intentional collaboration this summit makes possible,” said Scott Holman, Vice President, Amkor Technologies. “The 2026 Arizona Workforce Summit gave industry partners, educators and government leaders a shared foundation to address that need head-on. Building Arizona’s talent pipeline takes all of us working together, and that work starts at events like this one.”
OEO’s labor market data, employment projections and regional economic analysis were available throughout both days, putting actionable intelligence directly in the hands of the professionals who needed it most.
For more information about OEO and its workforce resources, visit oeo.az.gov.
