It’s Official: Florida Chamber Foundation Report Reveals That Florida’s Top 30 Most In-Demand Careers Require Math Skills

As part of the Florida 2030 Blueprint’s plan to create economic opportunity and grow Florida to a global top 10 economy, today the Florida Chamber Foundation and our Future of Work Florida Initiative have teamed up to release a new, interactive report highlighting the math skills associated with each of the top 30 most in-demand careers across Florida’s 21 workforce regions, reinforcing the important role of math education in building critical thinking skills and preparing the state’s future workforce.

Building off of the Florida Chamber Foundation’s 2025 Top 30 High-Demand Careers in Florida, this new resource reveals that math skills are essential across a wide range of industries – from accounting and auditing to nursing, trucking and real estate – many of which have not traditionally been associated with math proficiency.

“Florida’s future competitiveness depends on getting talent right, and that includes math proficiency,” said Mark Wilson, President & CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Foundation. “The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Scorecard shows one-third (1/3) of our eighth-grade students are not proficient in math, which should concern every business leader in Florida. Because we are serious about closing the skills gap and securing Florida’s future, we have to make sure every student builds the math foundation needed to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce.”

“At Fifth Third, we believe that financial empowerment is an important first step in helping to transform lives and communities,” said Scott M. Daigle, North Florida Regional President of Fifth Third Bank. “We understand the importance of education to support K-12 students, especially as it relates to math and building long-term financial confidence.”

Developed by the Florida Chamber Foundation and its Future of Work Florida Initiative, the Top 30 High-Demand Careers: Math Skills Edition helps align education with workforce needs, strengthen talent pipelines, and prepare Floridians for high-wage, high-demand careers. This latest report connects those careers directly to the math competencies required for success, underscoring the need to start building math skills early in K-12 education and the business community’s role in preparing its future workforce.

The interactive report also complements the concerning trends in student performance tracked on The Florida Talent Center Data Hub (fltalentdata.org), the Florida Chamber Foundation Future of Work Florida’s new tool to track Florida talent from pre-K into the workforce. In 2025, 33% of Florida eighth-grade students were not proficient in math on the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST), signaling that too many students are not on track for success in college or the workforce.

At the same time, Floridians overwhelmingly recognize the importance of math education. A 2025 survey from Echelon Insights found that 91% of Florida voters support improving K-12 math education to better prepare students for a competitive economy, with more than three-quarters saying investments in teacher training and high-quality instructional materials would make a significant difference. The importance of K-12 math proficiency was also highlighted as a key recommendation in the Florida Chamber Foundation’s recently released Florida 2030 Blueprint Halftime Report.

“Improving math outcomes is not just an education issue, it’s a statewide economic imperative,” said Corrie Melton, Florida Chamber Foundation Vice President of Talent Development for the Future of Work. “Business leaders, educators, policymakers, philanthropy, and community leaders in Florida must work together to make certain every student has the math skills needed to succeed in today’s workforce and economy.”

The Math Report findings will be discussed at the 2026 Florida Learners to Earners Workforce Solution Summit in Tampa on June 23 (click here to see the Summit Agenda).

Click here to view the full interactive report.