Audio File of Radio Address.

MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers today delivered his weekly radio address reflecting on the Evers Administration’s accomplishments during 2024 the Year of the Worker. Since Day One, Gov. Evers and his administration have made it a top priority to address Wisconsin’s generational workforce challenges, and building upon this work, the governor in January declared 2024 the Year of the Worker in his State of the State address.

During Gov. Evers’ tenure, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has hit historic lows, and in October, Gov. Evers and DWD announced nine counties across the state, including several counties in Northern Wisconsin, showed the lowest rates of unemployment on record. Additionally, last month, Gov. Evers announced that Wisconsin has reached a new record high for employment during October 2024, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking the sixth consecutive monthly record for state employment and highlighting the unprecedented number of workers participating in Wisconsin’s economy. This is in addition to ranking first in the nation for inflation-adjusted hourly wage growth during February, March, and May of this year, seeing record-high enrollment in the state’s Registered and Youth Apprenticeship Programs, and securing major investments from federal partners and global companies that will support local job growth and generate billions of dollars of economic impact for years to come.

Hey there, Wisconsin. Governor Tony Evers here.

I declared 2024 as the Year of the Worker here in Wisconsin, not only to honor our state’s incredible, dedicated workforce but to put an emphasis on bolstering our workforce, reducing barriers to work, and making smart investments in key sectors.

And now that 2024 is coming to a close, I want to take a moment to look back on all we have accomplished together this year.

We’ve continued to see historically low unemployment that’s well below the national average, as well as record-high employment for over half of the year.

We created the Governor’s Task Force on Healthcare Workforce to find solutions to the unique needs facing Wisconsin’s healthcare workforce.

We also launched a brand-new Teacher Apprenticeship Pilot Program and welcomed the first eight teacher apprentices.

And we celebrated record-high enrollment in our state’s Registered Apprenticeship Program for the third year in a row.

We also saw record-high enrollment in our Youth Apprenticeship Program, with an all-time high of youth apprentices enrolled.

Wisconsin was also designated as a U.S. Regional Tech Hub, making our state the national leader in biohealth industries and bringing a projected more than 140,000 direct and indirect jobs.

And finally, in just the past year alone, we have celebrated global brands like Lilly Medicine, Nestlé Purina, Kikkoman, and Microsoft deciding to invest millions and even billions to grow their businesses and create jobs right here in Wisconsin.

All of this is a B.D.F-a Big Deal, Folks!

But just because the Year of the Worker is coming to a close doesn’t mean that we are going to slow down in 2025.

We are taking the positive momentum of all the incredible work we accomplished during the Year of the Worker, and we are bringing it with us into the new year to make smart, strategic investments to support employers and working families and build the 21st-century workforce and economy Wisconsinites deserve.

Thank you.

An online version of this release is available here.