New report addresses Maine’s workforce shortage

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The Maine Center for Economic Policy hosted a webinar Tuesday afternoon to discuss the findings of a new report on workers in the state.

“State of Working Maine 2022″ was released last week.

MECEP says the report shows while the robust recovery from the COVID-19 recession is a relief for many workers, it hides continued underlying weaknesses in the economy.

The report says a major development characterizing Maine’s economy this year is the revival of worker power.

Author James Myall says there are currently as many as two and a half open jobs for every unemployed worker.

”One thing we do emphasize in the report is that even though this is sort of a revival of worker power in some ways, it’s a revival from a very low starting point. And that even though we see more workers trying to form unions, more workers negotiating for higher pay, that ability of them to be able to do that is sort of in some ways dwarfed by the power that large corporations still have in our economy,” said Myall.

The report made some recommendations on how to solve workforce shortages.

They include expanding paid time off, strengthening access to health care, and continuing to fund free college.

The full report can be found here.

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