- From Accenture: Every role in every enterprise has the potential to be reinvented, as humans working with AI co-pilots becomes the norm, dramatically amplifying what people can achieve. In any given job, some tasks will be automated, some will be assisted, and some will be unaffected by the technology. There will also be a large number of new tasks for humans to perform, such as ensuring the accurate and responsible use of new AI-powered systems. Click here to read more.
- From The Annie E. Casey Foundation: Ten years ago, the Annie E. Casey Foundation began focusing on an urgent challenge: How to better connect young adults — especially young people of color from low-income families — with jobs and, ultimately, family-supporting careers. Drawing on Casey’s previous workforce development initiatives, we aimed to better understand the needs of job seekers and businesses and craft strategies that would benefit both groups. Reviewing the available evidence, we looked at leveraging supportive and skill-building services to address the needs of still-developing young adults while preparing employers to help these young workers thrive. Click here to read more.
- From The Aspen Institute: While 2.7 billion people across the world are affected by “digital divides” – gaps in access, power, and representation – leaders widely acknowledged that “digital inclusion” efforts aren’t, by themselves, sufficient. Merely “including” the people and communities historically marginalized has not – and will not – dramatically change the trajectory of those communities to achieve voice, power, and systemic change to reverse the wealth trajectories around the world. A new goal is needed: enter “digital equity.” Click here to read more.
- From Brookings: The explosion of interest in artificial intelligence has drawn attention not only to the astonishing capacity of algorithms to mimic humans but to the reality that these algorithms could displace many humans in their jobs. The economic and societal consequences could be nothing short of dramatic. The route to this economic transformation is through the workplace. A widely circulated Goldman Sachs study anticipates that about two-thirds of current occupations over the next decade could be affected and a quarter to a half of the work people do now could be taken over by an algorithm. Up to 300 million jobs worldwide could be affected. Click here to read more.
- From Center for American Progress: Pay data collection is a critical tool for achieving pay equity. It provides enforcement agencies—including the EEOC, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and state labor departments—with better data to enforce civil rights laws and encourages employers to self-analyze their pay practices and address pay disparities. Specifically, collecting pay data through the EEO-1 would enable the EEOC and the OFCCP to better focus their limited resources on combating pay discrimination. With these data, the EEOC and the OFCCP could more successfully identify patterns of pay discrimination and occupational segregation within particular firms, industries, and localities. Click here to read more.
- From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: An ineffective SNAP policy that takes food assistance away from people who can’t meet a work-reporting requirement will return this summer, after being paused during the public health emergency. This will mean that people who are between jobs, who have health conditions or caregiving responsibilities that impede work at least temporarily, whose work hours fluctuate, or who face challenges navigating the red tape of the reporting and exemption systems will be at risk of losing the food assistance they need to buy groceries. Click here to read more.
- From Economic Policy Institute: Earlier this year, the share of the adult Black population with a job—or the Black employment-to-population ratio (EPOP)—surpassed the share of the adult white population with a job for the first time in modern history. While the Black EPOP has since declined somewhat, it’s worth examining the reasons behind the sharp increase in employment over the pandemic recovery and the narrowing of the gap between Black and white workers in 2023. Click here to read more.
- From the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: A strong and stable economy is one in which everyone can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential, yet disparities continue to hold back many Americans from achieving equitable economic outcomes. In May 2023, for example, the unemployment rate for adults 25 years and older was 5.6 percent for Black Americans and 4.0 percent for Hispanic Americans, compared to 3.3 percent for non-Hispanic White Americans. Many employers prioritize traditional degrees and credentials in hiring and retention practices, placing underserved communities and people of color at a disadvantage. In 2022, only 28 percent of Black Americans and 21 percent of Hispanic Americans held at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 42 percent of non-Hispanic White Americans. Click here to read more.
- From Gallup Workplace Insights: Only about one in four U.S. employees feel strongly that their organization cares about their wellbeing. This percentage has been trending down since it peaked at the start of the pandemic. Gallup has found similarly low numbers in Germany, France and the U.K. This finding has significant implications now that work and life are more blended than ever before. According to Gallup research, those who prefer remote work cite reduced commute times, flexibility for their family and their wellbeing as some of the key reasons. Click here to read more.
- From the International Association of Workforce Professionals (IAWP): Are you ready to unlock the untapped potential of your organization? Are you curious about the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in today’s business landscape? Look no further! We are excited to introduce our upcoming course, “Introduction to AI: Revolutionizing Organizational Potential.” In this fast-paced digital era, AI has emerged as a game-changer, revolutionizing how organizations operate, innovate, and thrive. From enhancing customer experiences to driving operational efficiency, AI has become a catalyst for success. To stay ahead of the curve, it’s essential to understand AI’s fundamentals and its implications for organizational growth. Click here to read more.
- From Jobs for the Future: In today’s tough labor market, many candidates are applying for jobs that are outside their areas of expertise or not closely aligned to their education and training. But how can employers adequately identify talent if candidates do not match employer education requirements or pursue jobs aligned with their degrees? The hiring process is exhausting for all parties—even more so in a competitive talent landscape. We can make sourcing good talent easier if we embrace a nimbler hiring model driven by skills rather than degrees. Click here to read more.
- From the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies: About one in five Black Americans report that their financial situation is poor, about a third report that their financial situation is neither good nor bad, and the remaining 45 percent report that their financial situation is good. This is closely related to income and education; respondents earning more than $60,000 per year or those with college degrees are more likely to say that their financial situation is good. Just over a third of Black Americans (34 percent) report that “just getting by financially” describes their situation well, and nearly one in three (28 percent) say that it doesn’t describe their situation at all. Click here to read more.
- From Manpower: By now, many organizations have designed and communicated guidelines across the range of all-remote to all in-person. Communicating a policy, celebrating the return to the office, and then leaving it up to individual teams to figure it out is not a recipe for success. Especially in the tightest talent market in years, organizations need to make sure they aren’t driving their best talent away. Instead, they need a comprehensive plan to recharge their talent as they return to the office. Click here to read more.
- From McKinsey & Company: We are living through an era of unprecedented challenges and opportunities. The climate crisis, global health challenges, and changes in social values are upending individual priorities. Globalization and geopolitics are shifting the world’s tectonic plates. How we live and work is being constantly reinvented by advances in technology and the emergence of generations who were “born digital.” How should leaders navigate this moment? What does leadership look like in an era where turbulence and disruption are the norm? Click here to read more.
- From the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE): Many career services functions are using artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline their processes and enhance their operations. However, there are potential legal risks adopters should consider as they move from dipping their toes into the AI pool to fully diving in. Click here to read more.
- From the National Association of Counties (NACO): An estimated 15-20% of the world’s population exhibits some form of neurodivergence, which includes things like dyslexia, ADHD, and the autism spectrum disorder. Neurodivergent individuals possess a wide range of valuable skillsets that can solve complex business challenges. Despite this, unemployment for neurodivergent adults runs as high as 30-40%. Recently, banks, tech firms, and other enterprises have boosted their own efforts at recruiting and retaining neurodiverse talent–and now, government agencies are starting to follow. Neurodiversity in the workplace is a must have to an organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Neurodivergent individuals can bring exceptional value to organizations, businesses, and government agencies alike. Click here to read more.
- From the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB): Everyone needs nutritious food to thrive, and in every community in America, people are working hard to provide for themselves and their families. Yet in 2021, 34 million people—1 in 10 people—faced food insecurity, and 54 million people sought charitable food assistance. Click here to read more.
- From the National Conference of State Legislatures: Reentry programs are essential for ensuring the successful rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals released from jails and prisons into their communities. One source of funding for reentry programs is federal grants, which relies primarily on competitive grant applications. For example, the Second Chance Act was originally passed by Congress in 2008, and reauthorized several times, to provide funding to states for reentry programs. Most recently, the Bureau of Justice Assistance–responsible for distribution of second chance funds—is looking to fund two organizations to design and administer a competitive incubator initiative for community- and faith-based reentry providers. Click here to read more.
- From the National League of Cities (NLC): In today’s post-pandemic world, a silent crisis is plaguing communities across the country – an alarming number of students are missing school. It is estimated that over 16 million students are considered chronically absent, more than twice the pre-pandemic rate. This alarming reality has implications not only for youth but for entire communities, and national news coverage is bringing even more attention to these concerns. Click here to read more.
- From the National Fund for Workforce Solutions: Young people, overall, were hit hard by the pandemic and experienced significant disruptions to employment. The good news is that unemployment for young adults is decreasing, and their labor force participation is recovering and close to pre-pandemic levels. However, it has been an uneven recovery at best. Click here to read more.
- From the National Skills Coalition: It really takes everyone to advance equity and to break down the systemic barriers that prevent too many Americans from accessing high-quality, inclusive skills training that leads to good jobs and careers. We know the difference between an industry partnership that grows a racially and gender inclusive infrastructure workforce in one community – and industry partnerships driving that change in 1,000 communities – is public policy. And we know that dismantling structural inequality and growing a truly inclusive workforce requires a lot of levers and one of those levers is public policy. Click here to read more.
- From Prosperity Now: Not too long ago, being able to afford a home in your early-to-late twenties was the regular American Dream; however, with an increase in mortgage rates and rent prices along with the influx of higher interest rates, Gen Z may be experiencing a dream deferred. The COVID-19 pandemic marked a change in the homebuying process for many young Americans, especially Gen Z. In a now post-COVID world, homebuying is an area where the nation is struggling; with the median sale price for a home increasing 25% between 2020 and 2021. This rise in home prices has been impacted by many factors, with inflation being the primary driver of homeownership insecurity. Click here to read more.
- From the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): As we move forward in a post-pandemic world, mental health in the workplace has become a priority as never before. Research from the American Psychological Association shows that 81% of workers will be looking for workplaces that support mental health in the future. And a study from McKinsey concludes that, “Employers who recognize and prioritize psychological safety alongside physical safety in their post-pandemic operations can help employees’ mental health and their own efforts to cultivate inclusive workplaces. This support can have concrete effects on critical workplace outcomes, including employee well-being, satisfaction, productivity, and absenteeism.” At the heart of the issue: creating a harassment-free workplace where employees feel psychologically safe. Click here to read more.
- From the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: The future of the office is here. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Future of the Office survey has found that the new office will be more flexible, open, and health-conscious than the old. As many look to repurpose existing commercial spaces, the professionals surveyed said government red tape is a key barrier to office space conversion. The survey also found that some commercial real estate professionals think offices will be converted to other commercial uses—but few anticipate they will be transformed into residential properties. Click here to read more.
- From WorkforceGPS: Businesses want to hire workers who are healthy so they can do their work and do it well. But did you know that there are millions of people who deal with mental health issues? The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that one in five people experience mental illness yearly (nearly 50 million American adults). While most Americans are not affected by mental health conditions, those who suffer from them often face stigma and do not receive the support they need in the workplace. Click here to read more.
- From Workforce Monitor: The explosion of interest in artificial intelligence has drawn attention not only to the astonishing capacity of algorithms to mimic humans but to the reality that these algorithms could displace many humans in their jobs. The economic and societal consequences could be nothing short of dramatic. Click here to read more.
- From Workday: Organizations face a very different hiring market compared to 2022, characterized by fewer job requisitions and a rapid increase in application rates. This represents a shift in hiring dynamics from a focus on growth to one in which top-quality candidates are the priority. While overall engagement remained stable throughout 2022, falling strategy scores and the relatively low ranking of drivers associated with employee development, including growth, recognition, and reward, could undermine organizations’ ability to hire and retain top talent. Click here to read more.
- From WorkingNation: STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) are growing and so is the need for workers. There were nearly 10 million people in STEM occupations in the U.S. in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, and that number is expected to grow 11% by 2031. Those STEM occupations pay a median salary that is more than twice the amount of non-STEM salaried jobs. What’s still lagging in the field is diversity, as people of color and women are underrepresented in STEM careers. Click here to read more.
- From WorkRise: In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, young workers stood at the precipice of a collapse in economic mobility. With their likelihood of holding jobs affected by the pandemic, young people faced a steeper spike in unemployment. And given their lower incidence of previous work history, they were also less likely to receive financial assistance through government programs like unemployment benefits. In the moment, the post-COVID-19 economic crisis threatened to mirror the 2008 recession, when young workers suffered disproportionately poor employment prospects and falling wages even years later. Click here to read more.
DATA TOOLS
- From Atlanta Regional Commission: Each week ARC, in partnership with Neighborhood Nexus, provides updated research and analytics through the 33on blog. From a look at housing, rental rates, and cost of living to the job market and latest on wages, this blog is a one-stop portal to a treasure trove of local and regional data. Click here to learn more.
- From Brookings: Using data from hundreds of thousands of real job transitions, the Job Mobility and Smart Growth Toolkit shows how workers can advance through labor markets—featuring national and city-by-city data on wage levels, local labor demand, and job mobility rankings for 441 occupations, from retail salespeople to cooks to computer programmers. Click here to see the toolkit.
- From the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity (CWEO): The Unemployment Claims Monitor displays data from the weekly and monthly unemployment claims reports from the U.S. Department of Labor. It is updated every Thursday. Users will find weekly and monthly data on claims and on who have filed for unemployment insurance, including special unemployment programs like Short-Time Compensation (or Workshare), Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees, Ex-Service Members, and Extended Benefits programs. The Opportunity Occupations Monitor displays opportunity employment and its prevalence across labor markets. Opportunity employment is an estimate of the number and share of jobs accessible to workers without a bachelor’s degree that pay more than the national median wage. Click here to learn more.
- From the Georgia Department of Labor: The Georgia Department of Labor provides access to a complete set of data tools for workforce developers to better understand the labor market conditions in Georgia. The portal also includes resources for job seekers and employers. Click here to learn more.
- From Georgia Power: Georgia Power’s Community & Economic Development team maintains interactive tools to take a deeper dive into the data on target industries, the labor force, and more. Click here to learn more.
- From the National Fund for Workforce Solutions: The National Fund for Workforce Solutions’ Workforce Equity Dashboard provides disaggregated data that uncovers racial gaps in workforce outcomes, identifies opportunities to advance racial equity across systems, and informs high-impact strategies to build a future where employers, workers, and communities prosper. This dashboard was developed in partnership with the National Equity Atlas. Click here to learn more.
- From Neighborhood Nexus: Neighborhood Nexus, a data partner of ARC, developed Data Nexus, a powerful tool to find, visualize, analyze, and download community data including demographic, education, health, and economic indicators from state and national sources, all in one place. Click here to learn more.
- From the Partnership for Southern Equity: The Metro Atlanta Racial Equity Atlas (MAREA) is designed to offer an immersive, story-centric experience that contextualizes personal narratives with engaging, interactive community data and historical background. This tool has been developed by the Partnership for Southern Equity, Neighborhood Nexus, and archi. Click here to learn more.
- From Prosperity Now: The Prosperity Now Scorecard is a comprehensive resource for data on household financial health, racial economic inequality, and policy recommendations to help put everyone in our country on a path to prosperity. Click here to access.
- From the Technical College System of Georgia: TCSG’s Data and Research provides access to the System Scorecard, enrollment data, and more. Click here to learn more.
- From the University of Georgia, Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIOG): CVIOG has developed toolkits and other resources on a variety of workforce topics. Click here to learn more.
- From the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Right now, there are too many jobs without people to fill them. As a result, businesses can’t grow, compete, and thrive. The America Works Data Center captures trends on job openings, labor force participation, quit rates, and more. Click here to learn more.
- From WorkSource Georgia: Through its portal, WorkSource Georgia provides access to labor market facts, area profiles, industry profiles, educational profiles, and occupational profiles. Click here to learn more.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Through our MAX Resource Library, count on MAX to help connect you with reports and studies, data tools, websites and online portals, and other sources of information related to workforce development. Click here to learn more.
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