NYATEP State of the Workforce 2023

I was honored to support the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP) in developing its 2023 State of the Workforce report. It was my great pleasure to work on this project with the brilliant NYATEP team led by interim executive director Therese Daly and senior director of strategic partnerships and communications Megan Farry.

If you’re not familiar with this report, you should be. Each year, NYATEP combs through publicly available data sources to provide a comprehensive picture of New York state’s labor market—who’s working now, where the jobs are, and how well our systems of education and training are performing to meet current and project employer demand. This year’s report also includes a closer look at the challenges facing low-income workers in New York.

The State of the Workforce report was the brainchild of Melinda Mack, NYATEP’s legendary executive director from 2011-23, who tragically passed away last November after a years-long battle with cancer. I had the excellent fortune to call Melinda a friend, and to have worked with her on a few things over the years.

Anyone involved in workforce issues across New York State and well beyond knew Melinda as an unequaled advocate, strategist, and speaker. But through this project, I got to see another facet of her abundant talents: Melinda was a superlative researcher and narrative storyteller as well. Following in her footsteps while developing this year’s report felt like watching old YouTube clips of Prince absolutely shredding on guitar: you’re simultaneously amazed at how good it is… and how they were so brilliant at so many other things that this additional superpower was almost a secret.

I was honored to help continue Melinda’s work in this small way, and I hope readers find the result useful in your own efforts to build more equitable and effective workforce programs.