There's a lifetime's worth of weirdness in the labor market these days... the issues facing both employers and employees are unlike any they've seen in their lives. Several factors converge, including the mass retirement of the baby boom generation and the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic.
The recently-released Oregon Talent Assessment adds some perspective to just how unsettled the labor market is, and starts with the finding that 84% of employers have trouble finding workers qualified for their jobs.
The Talent Assessment is meant to be used as a tool in deciding higher educational and other policy in Oregon. We hear more about it from Todd Nell, Executive Director of Oregon's Workforce and Talent Development Board, and John Tapogna, Senior Policy Advisor at ECONorthwest, which prepared the report.