Mind the Gaps
All jobs are local. The needs in one community differ from the next, depending on the employers based there. However, there are several jobs that are needed everywhere across the country. One of them is nursing.
Closing the Gap Between Nursing Supply and Demand
WorkingNation senior correspondent Laura Aka takes an in-depth look at the profession and finds that more than 100,000 registered nurses quit the field during the pandemic because of heavy workloads, stress, and burnout. While there are 5.9 million RNs actively working right now, 28% say they plan to retire in the next five years. The number of people training to fill those jobs is far smaller than the number of people they need to replace.
So, what is being done to close that gap?
The Gender Wage Gap is All About Job Type
Did you know that women still make 83-cents for every dollar a man makes?
Women are a critical part of the U.S. labor force and contribute significantly to their families’ economic security and the U.S. economy, filling half of all jobs in the country. But women continue to experience longstanding disparities in the labor force – overrepresentation in certain lower-paying jobs, such as retail and child care, and underrepresentation in other higher-paying jobs predominantly held by men.
In a recent interview for my Work in Progress podcast, Gayle Goldin, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau, discusses efforts to close that gender wage gap by opening pathways for women in these traditionally male-dominated jobs, including jobs in the skilled trades.
Closing the Economic Mobility Gap in AANHPI Communities
The term Asian American is often used to describe all Asians living in the U.S. But, that catch-all, pan-ethnic label doesn’t capture the breadth of heritage and lived experience that is central to many of their lives. Nor does it begin to address the economic diversity of people of Asian descent spread out across our country.
Among these groups are populations that are experiencing economic disparity – immigrant and refugee women, business owners without sufficient access to funding, and people living in poverty who don’t have a pathway to workforce education.
Each community differs in how it is addressing these gaps in economic access.
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Breaking Barriers: Embracing Age in the Workforce
Earlier this month, WorkingNation and our partner Scripps News Network brought together an incredible group of experts in Denver to talk about one of the most important issues in the workforce today, equitable access to jobs and career advancement for mid-career and older adults.
One in five workers in the labor force is over the age of 55 and that number is expected to grow to over one in four over the next few years as people are working longer, either out of financial necessity or personal desire.
The conversation for our upcoming TV show Breaking Barriers: Embracing Age in the Workforce centered around age stereotypes that are putting a damper on hiring and promotion opportunities for people in their 40s, 50s, and older. Importantly, we talked about efforts to end ageism in the workplace and the enormous benefits of hiring these workers.
This is information everyone needs to hear, from employer to employee to job seeker to policy maker.
Our stellar panel includes Carly Roszkowski of AARP, Diana Caba of the Hispanic Federation, Taylor McLemore of Human Potential Capital, and Dianne Primavera, lieutenant governor of the state of Colorado. Scripps News anchor Rob Nelson led the conversation. I can't say enough about the fabulous WorkingNation content team on the project, Joan Lynch, Melissa Panzer, Stephanie Tobey, and Jennie Sheffield, and the rest of the Scripps team, Brian Donlon and Robin Dich. Job well done all!
This our second Breaking Barriers special. The first one, Breaking Barriers: Embracing Disabilities in the Workforce, has been nominated for an Emmy – we find out if we won on June 15! – and has already won five Telly Awards.
This episode premiers on the Scripps News Network on Friday, June 21, at 9:00 pm ET.
We want to take moment to thank Ares Charitable Foundation for its financial support for this series. Its committment to editorial independence and to telling stories about pathways to economic mobility runs deep, and it is appreciated.
One Last Thing...
We have a busy summer ahead for our WorkingNation team as we head to Aspen, Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Can't wait to share the stories we're working on from these communities, as well as smaller towns and rural America. Stay tuned.
Until next time,
Ramona Schindelheim, WorkingNation editor-in-chief