Re: Nice idea to upskill the local residents
And you can't upskill everybody. If you upskill the local workforce and they all work in tech jobs, who is going to stock shelves or do your dry cleaning? Massages? Wait tables in restaurants? Etc.
These people are needed and are often overlooked, especially when it comes to housing. It often means that they can't even live in the towns where they work and have long commutes.
That said, I work in tech, but we live in a small town and I commute a couple of towns over to another small town. I wouldn't want to work in a large town or city.