The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of new long-term unemployed individuals. As the country continues to reopen, many long-term unemployed workers may return to the workforce, but individuals will be reentering a job market that looks different from a year and a half ago. Businesses large and small embraced technology and automation in new ways, accelerating trends that existed before COVID-19. These individuals will need training, guidance, and support to reenter the workforce successfully.

Previous economic crises have shown that the long-term unemployed have historically found it more challenging to find reemployment. Ongoing high levels of long-term unemployment can lead to more discouraged job seekers dropping out of the labor force. When long-term unemployment is widespread, as it is now, especially among job seekers ages 55 and older, the effects on the labor force can be long-lasting and influence economic recovery more broadly.

Jane Oates

President

WorkingNation

Lisa Marsh Ryerson

President

AARP Foundation

Stuart Andreason

Assistant Vice President and Director of the Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Wendi Copeland

Chief Strategic Partnership Activation Officer

Goodwill Industries International

Teresa Ghilarducci

Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz professor of economics

The New School for Social Research

Traci Scott

Vice President of Workforce Development

National Urban League