The 2026 Arizona Workforce Summit took place on June 9 and June 10 at the Mesa Convention Center, as leaders addressed Arizona’s talent challenges presented by the continued rise of AI, Arizona’s aging population and increasing skill gaps.
“The Arizona Workforce Summit is connecting today’s skills to tomorrow’s opportunities where educators, policymakers and workforce development professionals can come together to learn about what the future workforce is needed for today,” says Mary Foote, director of the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO).
The World Economic Forum projects that roughly 39% of key workplace skills will change by 2030, something that Foote and the OEO are trying to stay on top of.
“We’re trying to provide additional resources for workforce development in areas like advanced manufacturing,” Foote says. “Ready Tech Go is an initiative of the Office of Economic Opportunity. We support community colleges with advanced manufacturing curriculum. We also have invested in a program called Build It AZ, which specifically provides resources to register an apprenticeship program that supports the skilled trades.”
In addition to the focus on workforce development in advanced manufacturing, AI presents talent challenges.
“We’re not just trying to understand how to get people more skilled in AI. We’re also trying to understand how to transition people from high AI exposure jobs to occupations that have similar skills and abilities, but with lower exposure,” Foote says.
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The healthcare sector, she continues, is an area that also faces urgent workforce shortages.
“Because Arizona has become such an attractive place to live, work and play, the more people we get, the more people we need to serve their healthcare needs. It is a significant part of our job growth. We are supporting the rural health transformation program, which this year alone, is a $42 million investment that our state is making in the rural healthcare workforce. So, we’re taking the healthcare needs on directly and ensuring that we’re supporting not just our urban areas, but our rural areas as well,” Foote says.
The goal of the summit and the OEO’s initiatives, Foote concludes, is to meet the needs of the industry now that Arizona’s economy is more diverse than ever.
“I always tell people coming to events like [the Arizona Workforce Summit] is the first step in making an impact. It’s learning about trends, learning how to bring things back to your own region, to create regional strategies and creating connections so that you can call on people when you’re trying to develop strategies for your own area.”
