Workforce

With the nation’s largest concentration of business, research and educational facilities dedicated to modeling, simulation and training (MS&T), Metro Orlando is teeming with proficient workers who have a broad range of applicable skills in the field. The industry, along with businesses that provide related support services and equipment, accounts for more than 12,500 jobs in the region.

Workforce Florida, Inc., WORKFORCE CENTRAL FLORIDA (WCF) and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission have joined to sponsor a workforce development program for the MS&T sector. This initiative will focus on helping companies diversify their business through increased knowledge in business development and workforce training.

Metro Orlando has more than 20 fully-accredited institutions of higher learning, which place approximately 85 percent of graduates into the local workforce. The University of Central Florida (UCF), with over 56,000 students, is a key contributor to the quality of the employee pool in this region. In addition to being one of the few universities in the country to offer both Master’s and Doctoral level MS&T programs, UCF founded the Institute for Simulation and Training, a world-class research facility. As a result, MS&T businesses in Metro Orlando have access to a continual “brain trust” of individuals pursuing breakthrough progress in the field.

UCF annually confers thousands of undergraduate, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in disciplines related to MS&T, including computer science, psychology (clinical and industrial/organizational), engineering, mathematics and physics. The many community and technical colleges that offer MS&T studies complement the programs at UCF and help fulfill the staffing needs of the industry in positions such as: