How Employers are Combatting Labor Shortages
Summary
The re-opening of large swathes of the economy meant sudden and strong increases in demand for labor in those industries. For comparison, during the same time period, employment in all other industries increased by only 1.6% Unsurprisingly, blue collar workers are reaping the biggest benefits from pandemic labor shortages. While in previous years, employers might have been able to pick and choose from a pool of college graduates to fill a barista position, that’s no longer the case. Educational requirements for blue collar jobs have declined sharply over the past few years, hitting their nadir in April 2021. Firms are becoming more amenable to remote work, which facilitates access to a wider talent pool for the occupations that allow off-site labor.