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.
DHS is using federal funds to reimburse local police who partner with ICE, a policy that could reshape law enforcement in rural communities with limited staffing and resources.
At 14 of 16 executive branch agencies, the percentage of non-white employees is less than the share of the state’s minority population. A 2010 diversity requirement is now at odds with growing GOP suspicion of DEI efforts.
Proposed legislation would abolish less than minimum wages for people with disabilities by August 2025. Minnesota has the third highest number of workers earning subminimum wages in the nation.
A $1.2 million study found that the state should offer 4 percent merit-based raises to make salaries more competitive. Instead, lawmakers approved select raises, including an 11 percent increase for Raúl Labrador’s office.
More than 30 states have laws classifying assault on transit operators as a special category of misdemeanor. Incidents are increasing, and transit workers and their unions are pushing for action at all levels of government.
A panel at the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry's annual meeting advised that state officials rely on data to develop higher education and training programs to address the state’s major labor needs.
The state’s employment office will review the cases of 136,000 residents who collectively received $1.2 billion in “overpayments.” Only approximately 21,000 residents can expect to have their repayments waived.
It has put the ability to deliver essential services at risk, and when government fails, people can die. There are real solutions that will make the public sector more competitive to attract and retain talent.
An estimated 130,000 Pennsylvania workers get illegally cheated out of pay by their bosses every week, but many workers don’t ever take action to recover the funds, and, for those that do, it can take years.
Pre-pandemic, job vacancies in the Maine city hovered around 125; now, twice as many are empty. City leaders have said that addressing the issue is a top priority but replacing lost jobs won’t be easy.
After the pandemic, the labor force is approximately 3 million short as many workers retired early, immigration slowed and long COVID forced other workers to stay home.
The practice of revoking a job offer just weeks or days before the start date is not as common as the recent layoffs, but the practice could grow if the economy dips into a recession.
The logistics industry currently makes up 13 percent of the jobs in the state’s Inland Empire, but many expect that rate to increase with automation and as friendly zoning and officials bring more jobs to the area.
A Nebraska bill would create a 12-member working group with representatives from the state Legislature, nuclear and hydrogen industries and the state and community college systems to create a pipeline of skilled workers.
The Pennsylvania county has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels for job availability despite the unemployment rate hitting record lows. Nationally there are 11 million open jobs but only 5.7 million unemployed workers.
State and local governments are short over 500,000 jobs, bringing crisis conditions to agencies that operate around the clock. New strategies are needed to fill these gaps, say union experts.
As adult-learner programs proliferate, there’s a lack of consistent, reliable quality standards to inform job seekers and employers. States should move to organize and oversee this complex marketplace.
Oklahoma's state Senate has introduced legislation to reduce the red tape for experienced educators to move to Oklahoma and teach. But critics worry the law could work in reverse, sending teachers out of state.
The metro area had 408,700 jobs in December which is 300 more than the area had in March 2020. The health-care industry has added 4,400 jobs since the start of the pandemic, followed next by leisure and hospitality.
BIPOC entrepreneurs, veteran- and women-owned businesses and small businesses in underserved regions of Washington state, including Walla Walla County, may be eligible to receive an impact grant of up to $100,000.
Though annual installations of solar panels increased by nearly 60 percent between 2016 and 2021, the solar energy industry employed 11 percent fewer people in 2021 than it did five years earlier.
A few governors have moved to open up thousands of state jobs to people without a college degree. It's commonsense policy and an economic win for states. It’s also a political opportunity for governors eyeing the White House.
The state Senate passed the “Temp Worker Bill of Rights” after a monthslong saga that included a thrice-delayed final vote. The bill will give temp workers the right to basic information in their native language and eliminate agency fees.
The program offers companies tax breaks based on the number of employees they hire and where those jobs are located. A report found the program costs more to operate than the tax revenue it generates.
Private companies and corporations can much more easily ban workers from using TikTok on work-issued devices than government agencies. But it’s unlikely an employer could ban an employee from using the platform entirely.
The state’s $35 million initiative, Good Jobs Hawai’i, hopes to support 3,000 state residents with their career advancement in health care, technology, clean energy, skilled trades and creative industries.
Three years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, those in the Cleveland area are still uncertain about where employers will require their workers to be: in office, at home or a hybrid of the two.
The state’s layoffs decreased from 12,000 in 2020 to just 1,750 in 2022. But officials and economists are reluctant to hail the drop, saying the data needs to be contextualized to better understand Connecticut’s economic health.
Recent data reveals that four counties across North Texas have increased their numbers of workers with college degrees over the last five years and drawn more companies and workers from out of state.
A study evaluated 79 cities for their minimum wages and ranked them. When the cost of living is included, Philly’s minimum wage came out to just $6.69 per hour.
The factory jobs that used to be a fit for unskilled blue-collar workers are rapidly going high tech and white collar.
