The workforce is missing 5M men

Back in the 1950's and 1960's: 1. Many jobs that existed then do not even exist now; 2. Many jobs that exist now didn't exist then; 3. Gender and racial exclusion from TONS of educational (law school, med school, etc.) opportunities AND jobs was legal (so the measure of male employment from that time period should control for #3). In short, the talent pool for roles has expanded as equal rights expanded. 4. The criticism that video games isn't a "real job" is very old school. The video game industry is making oodles of $$$$. There are many more ways to make legal money than the 1950's/1960's; 5. The definition of "job" includes freelance work, contract work, part-time work, full-time work, seasonal work, etc. It's much broader than 60+ years ago. 6. The primary creators and audience for video games (playing/developing/recording, etc.), are MEN. This article appears to deem them as not having "real jobs." Okayyy.

Don't forget also about optics. Not interested in politics but since so many more businesses are pushing for diversity (not a bad thing) a lot of companies will put just about anyone else to the head of the line before a man. So a lotta men are being forced to think outside the box to get food on the table. Add in much lower graduation of men from college over the years and so many jobs looking for at least an associates on top of trying to keep certain optics.. I recently graduated myself and despite being told a degree would open so many doors I'm barely getting interviews. lol

Video games? That is a stretch. I wonder why the 1.6 million American men currently in prison isn't the first place "they" looked for the "missing men"? Those men often are unable to find employment for a good seven years post arrest due to background screening by most low wage employers. American's who have served time in prison or have arrest records are a large and willing source of labor. If the American labor market needs men they ought to look there first, not GameStop.

I wonder if they are taking into account that they are replacing people with automation? You have more and more self check outs then years before also thanks to the pandemic just saying. Hard to compete with a computer now days!

I'm self-employed, and making more money than when I was in the traditional workforce, so... not going to be a part of the traditional workforce. ??

There are lots of non-traditional ways to earn income now. The traditional stats have a hard time accounting for people making a living through some combination of "side hustles". Though, no reason that should necessarily be more of a guy thing...

Interesting. I like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) interactive graph within the article, because it is easy to pin down some of the potential causes. For instance, notice the most dramatic percentage plunges (1983, 2010 and 2020) were during times of recession, lack of new jobs and the COVID-19 pandemic, for example. Plus, early on in the 50s and 60s, it makes sense there was a higher percentage of men in the workforce, simply due to the number of women who were homemakers at the time. However, for comparison purposes, it would be interesting to see an interactive graph for women in the workforce during the same timeframe to see what the common denominators might be causing these declines.

Interesting ... so short falls in health care and education explain at least a part of that, maybe a big part? That certainly suggests some things that we could do as a society to improve the situation.