The last 18 months have been unprecedented in our modern economy. The shock to the workforce triggered by the onset of the pandemic was quick and devastating—nearly 21 million jobs lost in just six weeks by May 2020, resulting in a jobless rate of 14.7%, a level not seen since the Great Depression. After months of workforce recovery, job growth took a step back last month with the resurgence in COVID-19 infections, particularly the Delta variant.
There are 8.4 million people out of work and looking for a job. Millions more have given up looking. While this is well off the highs of the February-April 2020 recession, these numbers are still higher than the pre-COVID level of 5.7 million unemployed. And it should be remembered that many of the challenges and barriers currently facing workers seeking jobs were around even before the pandemic.
The skills gap, the speed of change in technology, and equitable access to opportunity are all contributing factors, issues we've been reporting on for the past five years here at WorkingNation.
To mark this moment, we asked members of our WorkingNation Advisory Board to share their thoughts on how they are looking ahead. Frankly, this group is in the thick of it. They work in a variety of areas including education, nonprofit, policymaking, corporate, and workforce development.
Here is what some of them have to say.
Gerald Chertavian, Year Up
The extreme challenges of the last year and a half offer an opportunity for great change, according to Gerald Chertavian, founder and CEO, Year Up.
He says, “The pandemic has both exposed and exacerbated the economic inequities in our nation and created a passageway through which greater innovation and progress can be made. The opportunity facing us is to redefine who gets included in the next wave of economic recovery and to ensure that opportunity is accessible to all as we emerge from the pandemic.”
Chertavian offers a bright spot in the work being done by OneTen, an initiative that—with the support of corporate partners—aims to move a million Black workers into careers over ten years.
“We are encouraged by the commitment and movement we are seeing by employers to shift to a skills-based approach to hiring, retaining, and advancing talent,” says Chertavian.
“The recent launch of OneTen represents the largest commitment in corporate history to create economic mobility for those who historically have not had access to it. The CEOs of the OneTen organizations are engaged and actively working to change their talent management practices in ways that lead to greater inclusion and equity. It is a journey and we are far from the finish line, although we believe that the movement we have seen over the past year is real and will be sustained.”
Paul Irving, Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging
Stakeholders need to fully participate to ensure there is access for all to achieve the American Dream, according to Paul Irving, chairman, Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging.
“We need leaders in business, policy, philanthropy academia, and media to advocate for education, lifelong learning opportunities, and reskilling programs as new American priorities,” says Irving. “The COVID pandemic has elevated awareness of our disparities, divides, and social challenges. It has offered an opportunity for introspection—to think about what is important and what needs to change.”
“Rather than promoting homes and cars and clothes as aspirational and emblematic of the American Dream, we need a movement to shift culture, change hearts and minds, and advance a new public narrative about the power and possibility of education. That is a movement that can truly improve lives, stimulate innovation and economic vitality, and ensure a better future,” he explains.
Mona Mourshed, Generation
How and from where employees do their work has changed significantly due to the pandemic, notes Mona Mourshed, CEO,