If New Mexico is serious about building a resilient, innovative, and inclusive future, workforce development must be at the center of the conversation. Technology, infrastructure, and policy matter—but none of it moves forward without people. Skilled workers are the connective tissue that turns ideas into reality, and New Mexico is uniquely positioned to lead if we choose an all-hands-on-deck approach.
This is not about chasing trends or betting on a single solution. It is about diversification in the truest sense—expanding opportunity while strengthening the industries that already support our communities.
Diversification Means More Options, Not Fewer
Diversifying New Mexico’s economy does not mean diversifying away from oil and gas. It means building complementary pathways that create opportunity across more regions of the state.
Right now, much of the oil and gas development happens in the southeast and northwest. That activity is critical to New Mexico’s economy, but not every community sits on those same resources. Diversification allows other regions to participate in the energy and infrastructure economy through technologies and projects that fit their landscapes, assets, and workforce.
Geothermal energy, carbon capture and sequestration, pyrolysis and biochar, anaerobic digestion to create renewable natural gas, pumped hydro storage, forestry and land restoration, mining, and advanced water systems all represent real opportunities. These technologies are not theoretical—they exist, they are evolving, and they require skilled labor to build, operate, and maintain.
Infrastructure Is the Job Creator We Often Overlook
Energy technologies don’t exist in isolation. They rely on infrastructure—and infrastructure relies on people.
Pipelines, transmission lines, roads, broadband, water systems, and storage facilities are the backbone of economic development. In some communities, pipelines or transmission lines make sense. In others, geography or scale means that safe, well-maintained roads are the lifeline that keeps goods, materials, and services moving.
Transportation matters. If 18-wheelers can’t move safely, everything slows down—fuel, food, building materials, medical supplies, and equipment. Workforce development must include the people who build and maintain these systems, because without them, even the most advanced technologies stall.
Trades, Technology, and Pride in Craft
New Mexico has a workforce culture built on grit, problem-solving, and pride in hard work—especially in rural areas where people learn to adapt, fix things, and make do with limited resources. That culture is a strength.
Today’s energy and infrastructure jobs demand both hands-on skills and technical knowledge. Welders, electricians, heavy equipment operators, mechanics, pipefitters, linemen, technicians, surveyors, and operators are just as critical as engineers and analysts.
These are careers that allow people to build where they live—and to protect what they love. No one is more invested in maintaining land, water, air, and community safety than the people who call these places home.
Education as a Workforce Pipeline
Community colleges, four-year institutions, apprenticeship programs, and labor organizations all play a role in building this workforce. Training does not have to follow a single path. What matters is that pathways are accessible, practical, and aligned with real jobs.
Apprenticeships and hands-on learning allow people to earn while they learn. Technical programs can be tailored to regional needs—whether that’s geothermal in one area, water treatment in another, or grid infrastructure elsewhere. Universities contribute research, innovation, and advanced training that feed directly into deployment.
When education, labor, and industry are aligned, workforce development becomes a multiplier—creating opportunity not just for individuals, but for entire communities.
Opportunity for Rural and Urban New Mexico Alike
Workforce development is not just a rural story or an urban one—it’s both.
In rural areas, it means creating jobs that allow people to stay, return, or come home. In urban areas, it means supporting growing industries and providing stable, well-paying careers that keep essential systems running. Across the state, it means building a workforce that reflects New Mexico—diverse, capable, and deeply connected to place.
It also means giving young people options. Not every future looks the same, and it shouldn’t have to. A strong workforce ecosystem recognizes that success comes in many forms—and that every role matters.
Stewardship Through Local Ownership
There is a simple truth at the heart of workforce development: people take better care of what they build themselves.
When New Mexicans are the ones constructing, operating, and maintaining infrastructure, stewardship is not an abstract concept. It is personal. It shows up in safer job sites, better maintenance, stronger accountability, and deeper respect for land and community.
No outside workforce will ever have the same stake in protecting New Mexico as the people who live here.
An All-Hands-On-Deck Moment
The scale of opportunity—and need—before us is significant. Energy systems are evolving. Infrastructure must be modernized. Communities want jobs that matter. None of this happens without skilled labor.
New Mexico has the people. We have the institutions. We have the work.
What we need is the will to connect these pieces—to invest in workforce development as the foundation of economic resilience and environmental stewardship.
If we build these jobs here, train our people here, and deploy these technologies here, we don’t just create employment—we create ownership, pride, and a future that stays rooted in the communities we call home.