Feb. 16—TRIAD — Guilford County and North Carolina overall are falling behind their goals for workforce education to meet a growing demand for skilled workers, according to the nonprofit group formed to track that progress.

While North Carolina has increased the number of adults 25 to 44 years old with either a college degree or industry-valued skill credentials by four percentage points over the past three years, the state is projected to fall 71,000 people short of its goal for 2030, a report released Thursday by myFutureNC said.

The nonprofit myFutureNC announced in February 2019 a goal of having 2 million North Carolinians ages 25-44 with a degree or work credentials by 2030 to meet the expected demands of employers, up from about 1.5 million at the time. At the current pace, the state will have fewer than 1.93 million in 2030.

The gap between the desired number of skilled workers and the actual number has been growing since the goal was announced. In 2018 the gap was less than 2,000 people statewide, but today it is more than 24,000.

The myFutureNC goal for Guilford County for 2030 is 112,787 skilled workers, but currently there are fewer than 80,000, and the number grew by fewer than 300 from a year earlier.

The goal for Davidson County for 2030 is 27,490, but currently there are only about 16,500, a gain of a little more than 500 over the previous year.

The goal for Randolph County for 2030 is 21,511, but currently there are only about 12,200, a gain of a little less than 500 over the previous year.

The most recent data show that for every 100 ninth-grade public school students in the state, only 30 earn a degree or credential within six years of graduating high school, myFutureNC said.

Cecilia Holden, president and CEO of myFutureNC, said that’s a problem because two-thirds of all jobs require more than a high school diploma, meaning that fewer than one-third of all high school graduates have the qualifications for any of those jobs.

“North Carolina is losing too many of our students along this leaky pipeline, and we must do better,” she said.

The Piedmont Triad region alone is projected to gain more than 71,000 new jobs by 2030, said Jamie Vaught of the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division.

myFutureNC will ask the General Assembly this year for three things to help make progress toward the 2030 goal, Holden said:

—Additional financial aid to help students complete their college degree.

—Money for financial assistance for students pursuing industry-valued credentials because state and federal financial aid programs currently cannot be used to cover the cost of pursuing non-degree credentials.

—Money to help pay for innovative local and regional efforts to boost educational attainment.