A new report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and College Board demands our attention: 84% of hiring managers say students aren’t ready for entry-level roles, and 80% believe today’s graduates are less prepared than previous generations. This is crucial as more Gen Z graduates enter the workforce directly from high school.

But the report also makes it clear that this challenge isn’t destiny, and that there are proven strategies to close this gap.

Hiring managers overwhelmingly want durable skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration. These skills don’t go out of style. They are industry agnostic. These skills are relevant whether you are working in retail, hospitality, health care, trades, professional services, banking, or manufacturing.

The report also shows that industry credentials matter. 71% of high school graduates with recognized credentials are viewed as workforce-ready as compared to just 40% without them. That’s not politics. That’s not ideology. That’s data, at scale, from real employers making real hiring decisions.

And business courses matter. Ninety-two percent of hiring managers want more high school business classes, especially those tied to financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and real economic decision-making. In other words: not theory disconnected from the real world. They want curriculum that teaches how business actually functions.

This aligns directly with a major national push called AP Career Kickstart (a push we are happy to champion locally), launching business-centric courses designed to plug directly into real workforce competencies. At a recent event tied to this initiative, leaders from LinkedIn, Accenture, Verizon, and PenFed Credit Union made the point clearly: the future workforce pipeline can’t be solved by education alone.

Business and education must work together—intentionally—starting earlier in the learning journey. As Neil Bradley from the U.S. Chamber said: “By directly infusing business-centric skills and financial literacy into the high school curriculum, we are building a more competitive and job-ready workforce for the future.”

We must bring this mindset close to home. We hear the same thing every day from our local employers ranging from hospitality to health care, from local government to construction, and from small businesses in every industry sector: talent is their number one issue.

Housing matters. Transportation matters. The cost-of-living matters. But even if we fix those, we will still struggle if students are graduating high school without the core durable skills employers need in addition to their core education.

We have advantages here. We have CareerWise youth apprenticeships. We have great partnerships with CMC. We have strong school district leadership focused on college and career.

But we need to double down, and we need to accelerate. If our region is serious about economic vitality, then talent development must start before a high school student gets their diploma. This is a community imperative, not just an education conversation.

Our future competitiveness, both nationally and here in the Central Rockies, depends on building intentional bridges between classrooms and careers. Chambers, businesses, parents, school districts, higher education, and policy leaders must align around the same north star: Preparing students for the workforce of the world they are actually entering.

We don’t only have a talent shortage problem. We also have a talent readiness problem, and readiness is within our control to solve.

If Eagle County wants to remain a great place to live, work, raise a family, innovate, and build businesses, we must treat student workforce preparation like the economic strategy that it is. Because the best way to shape our future economy is to start preparing our future workforce today.

Chris Romer is president & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership, 3-time national chamber of the year. Learn more at VailValleyPartnership.com