Workforce
State and local governments face a tight labor market and a competitive disadvantage with the private sector. But salaries aren’t the only issue, with cities, counties and states all grappling with training, retention, remote work and increased union activity.
Supplementing early childhood educators’ wages has gone a long way toward addressing a longtime crisis. Even if the program doesn’t survive the city’s budget process, it should remain an example for local, state and federal efforts.
The workplace fatality rate for construction workers in North Carolina in 2022 was about 20 percent higher than the rest of the nation and about 2.5 times higher than the occupational death rate for all North Carolina workers.
Some interest groups don’t like project labor agreements, but new research shows that they benefit taxpayers and the construction industry while strengthening our skilled trade workforce.
State agencies are trying to address technical shortcomings that led to as much as $135 billion in fraud during the pandemic. But declining and volatile federal funding for administration is impeding those efforts.
Absurd occupational licensing requirements are costly for the economy and harmful to the workforce, but we don't seem to be able to do much about them.
One in every four job postings seeks candidates with the data skills that companies need — and those jobs pay better. Schools should refocus their efforts.
Companies that grew tech talent rapidly during the pandemic are now firing workers in droves in an effort to reduce operating costs and improve profitability, creating an employer’s market.
Research shows that traditional defined-benefit retirement plans aren’t a path to improved recruitment or retention. When it comes to younger workers in particular, policymakers need to accept the new reality.
The state hopes that the training program will better prepare teachers with real classroom experience — and improve recruitment and retainment. Roughly one in three teachers hired in Texas in the 2024 academic year were uncertified.
Manufacturing companies are frequently turning to robotics in response to labor shortages, increased strike risks and the need for flexibility with the transition to electric vehicles.
Public schools in Chicopee, Mass., are working with a local ambulance company to train students. They can be qualified as emergency medical techs by the time they graduate.
The City Council unanimously approved a three-year, $815,000 contract with RollKall Technologies. The move comes in direct response to a 2018 audit that criticized the agency’s lack of oversight.
By 2030, an estimated 12 percent of people ages 75 and older will be working, more than doubling from 2000, due to longer lifespans and rising costs of living. In Florida, soaring insurance rates add to financial pressures.
The state’s Department of Labor and Industries has failed to collect millions of dollars from employers that the agency says it owed to more than 1,800 workers across the state.
After shedding nearly 1 million jobs, staffing levels are now higher than at the start of 2020. But severe shortages remain in several fields such as nursing, public safety and education.
It takes partnerships among school districts, higher education, employers and community leaders to unlock the potential for more students to earn a degree that leads to significantly higher lifetime earnings. States can do a lot to make that happen.
In February, the state reached an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent, the highest in the country. Since 1976, California has created more jobs than any other state (9.7 million), accounting for 13 percent of all U.S. hires.
Total hired farm labor in the state dropped 23 percent from 2017 to 2022, more than twice the national rate of decline. Migrant farm labor fell even more.
The program has cost taxpayers at least $26 million so far, with more than 90 percent of those funds going to administrative and consulting costs. About 3,500 people have signed up since July.
The California state Supreme Court ruled that employers across the state must pay their workers for the time they spend driving to the gates and being searched, as well as when they are required to stay on campus during lunch.
The site is expected to generate approximately 1,000 construction jobs immediately and 1,400 jobs once the center is finished. The center will be Google’s first in Missouri.
Pay and benefits are important, but a better-trained, more professional workforce is crucial as well. State child-care administrators and agencies are key to making it happen.
Miami-Dade introduced a first-of-its-kind policy that would require employers to provide water, rest and shade to outdoor workers on hot days. The Legislature quickly sought to pre-empt such rules.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for 2024-2025 does not include any funding for the state’s Telework Compliance Office, which oversaw the rollout of telework during the pandemic and maintains telework data.
A handful of incoming mega-projects, such as a $15B Micron expansion and a new Meta data center, could squeeze the state’s tradesmen and hinder other developments across the state.
Two years ago, vacancy rates at the Santa Fe Regional Emergency Communications Center climbed to more than 65 percent. Since then, the number of unfilled positions has declined, though gaps remain.
A group backing a potential ballot question that would classify app-based drivers as independent contractors rather than employees has raised more than $6.8 million last year exclusively from non-resident companies.
A number of red states are moving to weaken child labor laws. Sponsors say they just want kids to be able to work, but critics complain companies are already exploiting vulnerable populations.
The state Employment Department’s new computer system, Frances Online, will replace the one that had been in place since the 1990s. But old technology is not the only thing the department needs to fix.
The pandemic has made the shortage worse for both permanent residents and the workforce. Some towns are beginning to find solutions.
An anti-union bill that passed last year requires most public-sector unions to increase the rate of members paying dues or be disbanded. Some unions, including police, firefighters and correctional officers, are exempt from the new law.
