The US Labor Shortage: A Plan to Tackle the Challenge

Long before the pandemic struck, long-term demographic trends were starting to tighten the US labor market. These seismic demographic changes—including minimal growth in the number of working-age Americans, fewer working-age adults with college degrees, and historically low birth rates—formed a perfect storm for that continues to leave countless businesses with staff shortages.

Now—more than two years after COVID-19 upended the US economy and workforce participation rates—the labor market is tighter than ever. In February 2022, there were 11.3 million unfilled job openings, up from 4.7 million in April 2020.

To combat these alarming trends, The Committee for Economic Development, the public policy center of The Conference Board (CED), has outlined several ways to boost the pool of available, qualified workers.