Trey Kay, Laurie Stern, Brad Stratton Published

Forced Apart: An Ailing Economy — Is Workforce Training The Cure?

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The coronavirus has created an economic nightmare.

About a million jobs have disappeared in six months and more layoffs are likely this fall. In West Virginia, the pandemic doubled the state’s unemployment rate. That means 75,000 West Virginians are looking for work. Many of those searching for work are young people who’ve just graduated.

How are employers and educators dealing with this disruption? Are students redefining their hopes for the future? We’ll look at the training that can match workers with jobs.

For this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay speaks with Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, Chancellor of the West Virginia Community and Technical College System (CTCS) and Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission. He also speaks with Brandon Dennison, Executive Director of Coalfield Development Corporation and Anthony Carnevale Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

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