COVID-19 Webinar: Workforce, Labor and Skills in a Recovering Economy

On May 11, IEDC hosted a webinar titled “COVID-19: Workforce, Labor and Skills in a Recovering Economy” where experts shared insight into the increased interest in relocation, longstanding needs for more skilled workers in growing industries, utilizing data to address skills gaps, and what economic development organizations can be doing at this time to support workers who have lost their jobs and are in need of training.

The session was moderated by Scott Martinez, President of the North Louisiana Economic Partnership. The speakers were Rob Garcia, Manager at Business Leaders United, Joshua Wright, Executive Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development at Emsi, Jane Oates, President of WorkingNation and Janet Salm, Managing Director of Research at the Strada Institute for the Future of Work. 

Rob Garcia kicked off the webinar, beginning his presentation by discussing the importance of having a skilled workforce to compete as a region. Workforce has been a top two site selection factor for nearly all of the last ten years, and many projects across the country have signaled workforce as the ultimate factor in their decision. For existing industry, retention and expansion are even more critical. Garcia then went on to discuss the skills necessary to compete as a worker, and the current mismatch between the required level of education for jobs and the level of education of available workers. He stressed that the most important way for communities to be competitive is to build a sustainable infrastructure for workforce development that is adaptive and responsive to local needs.

The workforce system was built to serve job seekers, but the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) was designed to change that and make businesses the customer. 

Garcia outlined the following key aspects local partners need guidance on in order for their workforce system to become more responsive to industry need:

        • Existing high demand jobs, especially in growing and emerging industry sectors
        • Target industries for recruitment and cultivation
        • Context around the current and future skill needs of employers
        • Business community partners with the credibility to establish and sustain industry and sector partnerships
        • Integration of workforce training as part of a strategy for economic competitiveness and growth

Garcia stressed that these are all needs that economic developers are uniquely poised to provide. The main priorities prior to COVID-19 were digital skills and access, incumbent worker training and upskilling, employing displaced workers, and industry engagement and partnership. While COVID-19 has accelerated the timeline, scale, and the importance of the role of industry, these previously outlined priorities remain the most critical.  

Garcia highlighted the following reasons why policy matters:

        • Funding and priorities of the workforce system are determined in federal state policy arenas
        • Quality assurance and accountability depend on better outcomes data- the barriers are policy-driven which is key for ensuring equity
        • Policy helps to scale best practices and eliminate common barriers

Joshua Wright then discussed how to use data to address the skills gap. The major disruption caused by COVID has had an impact on the family side, as seen by increased unemployment, the business side, as seen by the dramatic decline in demand and a hiring freeze, and the workforce side, as seen by misaligned training. 

Wright highlighted the following existing trends which have been magnified by COVID:

    • Automation
    • Need for remote learning
    • Rise of remote work
    • Outdated workforce systems
    • Equity gaps
    • Necessity of resilient and in-demand skills

Wright’s vision is to match laid off workers to businesses, by evaluating the needs of employers and helping them connect with displaced workers who possess those skills. His team is currently working on a project in Atlanta to address this issue. 

Jane Oates built on these ideas with her presentation on the future of education and training. She listed the following as major points of the economic fallout of COVID:

    • Millions infected, nearly 80k deaths in the United States
    • Loss of 26 million jobs,  23+ million unemployed
    • 14.7% unemployment rate versus the “real unemployment” rate of 22.8% (including those that are underemployed)
    • Job postings dropped 30% in March and 44% in April
    • Job postings in every sector, except non-store retailers and store merchandisers, showed new job postings down 13-80% in April
    • Employers across many sectors- entertainment, restaurant, retail, transportation, tourism- are weighing bankruptcy

While the economic impact is severe, Oates also stressed the importance of considering the human impact. Less than half of all Americans have emergency funds that will cover three months, and fewer than 30% of people of color or those under 30 have these funds. 4.1 million Americans missed their April mortgage payment. Even Americans across fields that were previously considered extremely stable, such as IT, finance, and education, are worried about losing their jobs. Over a third of workers say they would look for a job in a different field if laid off, and a fourth say they would need more education. 

There has been a rising demand for skills based, short term industry recognized credentials. Overall, a growing preference has been shown for online instruction. Currently 54% of employers are offering additional education and training for both furloughed employees and those currently working, while another 24% of employers are considering implementing these opportunities for additional training as well. 

However, Oates outlined the following local education and training issues:

    • Employer demand signals are muffled
    • Recent attempts to move online have been mixed
    • Budget concerns
    • Timelines for real-time job openings- Who’s going to come back when? What jobs will be required to be filled first?
    • What furloughs will change to lay-offs?
    • The federal landscape for stimulus and retraining
    • Job reductions that are still to come

Janet Salm wrapped up the webinar by discussing how to rebuild and recover better. Salm highlighted that the COVID-19 crisis has revealed how essential low-wage work is, and that this creates the opportunity to show more than gratitude for the efforts of essential workers by building real career paths. Even previously to the pandemic, 44 million adults were at risk of being left behind by the future of work. These individuals were struggling to be able to support their families, and lacked the skills and network to advance. Lost jobs, hours, and income have hit Americans of all educational levels. However, those with the highest levels of education are the most likely to be able to transition to a new job. 

After the last recession, individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher regained 90% of jobs, likely due to “up-credentialing”. Therefore, creating a new learning ecosystem is critical in integrating learning and working in order to build a better way forward.