Heldrich Center

Employers struggle to hire and retain workers almost two years into the pandemic

January 6, 2022

The pandemic has changed where we work, how we work and when we work. And because the labor market is so tight right now, managers are trying to figure out how to keep the employees they already have. But it’s not just restaurants and other low-wage employers...

Strategically Virtual: Voices from the field–Workforce responses to COVID-19

October 20, 2021

Researchers were able to ascertain a clearer picture of the challenges, triumphs, and lessons learned from local workforce development professionals trying to simultaneously help people in need and personally and professionally stay above water in an extremely new and stressful environment.

Wages and Wealth: Loss of work and income insecurity by race and ethnicity

August 4, 2021

A new research series from the Heldrich Center explores the impact of the pandemic on New Jersey workers and households by different demographics.

Strategically Virtual: Implementing job search services in a virtual environment

July 29, 2021

As workforce agencies plan their return to in-person services, the workforce system needs to consider not only the quality and content of its services, but also how to continue on the virtual journey that began in March 2020.

William M. Rodgers appointed VP of Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Director of Institute for Economic Equity

June 28, 2021

In order to fulfill his new responsibilities, he will be taking a leave of absence from his positions as Professor of Public Policy at the Bloustein School and Chief Economist at the Heldrich Center.

Chronic jobless find work in a tight market

June 9, 2021

The drop in long-term unemployment, if it continues, would be a welcome development for the recovery from the coronavirus recession. Workers who experience long bouts of unemployment often have a tougher time getting hired because their skills may erode and they face...

Federal Unemployment Aid Is Now a Political Lightning Rod

June 7, 2021

Of the more than 4 million people whose jobless benefits are going to be cut off in the next few weeks, Bre Starr will be among the first. That is because Starr — a 34-year-old pizza delivery driver who has been out of work for more than a year — lives in Iowa, where...

Positive new data builds expectations for a whopper number for Friday’s closely watched jobs report

June 4, 2021

Payroll processing firm ADP said 970,000 people had been hired in May, the biggest gain since June 2020. “If we continue to get lower numbers, I think that is consistent with stories around schools not being fully reopened and parents having difficulty with childcare...

Higher wages and help wanted ads are plentiful, but workers aren’t filling jobs in NJ

May 14, 2021

Take leisure and hospitality out of the overall job market equation, the reserve said, and “there is relatively little decline in the correlation” between unemployment and job vacancies. Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development...

These were the in-demand industries that survived the pandemic

March 24, 2021

Even after businesses were allowed to partially re-open in late spring last year, many wound up going bankrupt, closing their doors forever. But there have been exceptions. Carl Van Horn, the director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers...