Orazem on Workforce and COVID panel

September 21, 2021
News

Peter OrazemPeter Orazem, university professor, was a panelist at The Gazette Iowa Ideas 2021 Virtual Conference, In-Depth Week: All Eyes on Workforce on Monday, Sept. 20.

The Workforce and COVID-19
The workforce that is returning to offices looks a lot different than it did pre-COVID. Meanwhile, remote opportunities could change the state's workforce. All this as employers and workers are navigating a much-changed workplace. What does the future of work look like and what are the opportunities and challenges of the remote workforce? What are the economic benefits and risks employers face and what does all of this mean for Iowa?


Orazem was interviewed for a Sept. 23 WHO-News Radio story, "Iowa Economic Leaders Working to Get More People Back On the Job."

Millions of Americans are retiring from their jobs, only adding to the country's worker shortage. In Iowa, economic leaders are trying to figure out how to get more people back on the job. Iowa State University economics professor Peter Orazem tells WHO-13 a lot of workers are leaving firms with more restrictive labor market polices to jobs where they can work from anywhere. He says employers will have to start offering better pay and benefits to get more workers.


Orazem also spoke with Jeff Angelo, WHO-News Radio, on Sept. 24 on the challenges companies are facing to keep and attract employees in a hot labor market.

"There's definitely been a large reduction in labor force in Iowa and for reasons that are a little bit difficult to understand. It's obviously related to the pandemic, but also to government transfer policies. But a lot of jobs that people used to think were really good jobs are going begging right now."

"I don't know if this is a long-run trend that would be associated, perhaps,with trying to emphasize college career-type employment, I think it's more related to the short-term problem of how the pandemic has changed how we search for jobs and whether we stay in jobs. Hon Industries just announced in the last day or so that they were revising their profit picture downward because they just couldn't find enough workers to keep their production up to speed. And you just don't think that that's the kind of job that people wouldn't want to have three years ago, right. I think a lot of it is the fact that the pandemic has disrupted training but also disrupted the willingness to take on jobs where you'll be in proximity to a lot of other people."

"About a third of the reduction in the labor force are people who decided to retire, and I don't think those people are coming back."

 

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