Shift-Shaping Local Job Market — Can We Fill All the Jobs?
The labor market in this country has been a fast-changing landscape from high unemployment during the pandemic, then swerving to an overflowing job market with some 10.6 million job openings in this country. Today, the national unemployment rate is hovering around 4.0% and seems to be dropping; in Westchester, it’s about 3.7%.
But what about all the folks quitting their jobs in unprecedented numbers? Last November, the number of people who voluntarily left their jobs spiked to a record 4.5 million — and that was in just one month according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. What’s that about? Reasons for those walking out are unreasonably low wages, poor working conditions, no career path, and no benefits. The message from workers: we want better jobs with decent pay and jobs that have a future.
The Ballooning Skills Gap
Adjusting to the evolving, post-pandemic workforce are groups who have come together to create new employment opportunities and training programs. The challenge: to re-imagine what today’s workforce development really looks like — what are the skill gaps and what areas of expertise are needed. Here in the Hudson Valley several organizations and educational institutions have been at the drawing board for the last year designing accessible and affordable training programs geared towards landing people in good-paying jobs with career advancement.
The Westchester County Office of Economic Development has…
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Abby is a local journalist who has reported on breaking news for more than 20 years. She currently covers community issues in The Examiner as a full-time reporter and has written for the paper since its inception in 2007. Read more from Abby’s editor-author bio here. Read Abbys’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/ab-lub2019/
