In recent months, economic conditions and the labor market have deteriorated — with declining housing prices, a volatile stock market, and rising food and energy prices. Unemployment rates are rising in many states; several have already openly declared that they are experiencing an economic recession.

While the primary costs of worker dislocation — including financial stress, mental and physical health problems, a potential slide into poverty or homelessness — are borne by affected individuals and their families, there are broader implications as well. Communities may suffer from an outmigration of residents as well as from a loss of community engagement. Local businesses and the economy may be adversely affected by the loss of purchasing power. Society at large will experience a loss of tax revenue and rising social costs associated with unemployment.

Workers in nearly all sectors of the economy are facing an increased risk of involuntary layoff in the months ahead. Since its founding over a decade ago, the Heldrich Center has made research on dislocated — and especially older workers — a priority. Click here for recent Heldrich Center publications, reports, and presentations that examine different aspects of worker dislocation and the aging workforce.

A new report from the Council on Competitiveness defines the linkages between America's need for greater energy security, the global imperative for environmental sustainability, and U.S. economic competitiveness at the enterprise and national levels. The report is the result of a September 2007 progressive dialogue. Heldrich Center Director Carl Van Horn, Ph.D. served as one of the moderators at the progressive dialogue. Click here to read the report.
 

The Heldrich Center’s acclaimed Work Trends survey series has been added to the archives of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, at the University of Connecticut. The Roper Center houses the world's largest archive of survey data.

Researchers will now have access to more than 17,000 Work Trends interviews that the Heldrich Center and University of Connecticut have conducted with employees and employers nationwide since 1998. The entire Work Trends catalog is included, providing opinion data on compelling workforce topics such as job security, education and training, balancing work and family life, discrimination on the job, new approaches to retirement, outsourcing and layoffs, special challenges of the working poor, employment options for people with disabilities, the internet’s impact on work and job searches, and attitudes toward a rapidly changing U.S. economy.