By Keila Torres Ocasio, CT Post, June 24, 2014
BRIDGEPORT — With the number of part-time jobs in the state increasing and the number of part-time hours worked dropping, the importance of those workers to the state’s economy can no longer be ignored, Joe Carbone told The WorkPlace’s board of directors at their quarterly meeting Friday.
A focus on part-time work used to be frowned upon by labor and workforce officials, said Carbone, president and CEO of the career-assistance program.
“It was sort of the sense of, ‘If that’s the best we can do, we’re not doing good enough,’ ” he told the 100 or so individuals at the Holiday Inn event. “We can’t do that now. We have to embrace it. We will find ways of taking what is now a case of despair and making opportunity of it.”
Since 2000, part-time employment grew from 18.6 percent of the workforce to 22.2 percent in 2012, he said. Between 2012 and 2013, the state average for hours worked dropped from 34 hours to 33.6 hours a week despite modest employment increases. Average weekly earnings also declined last year.
“We can’t just keep things the way they are and think these things are transitory,” Carbone said. “They’re not transitory. They’re here to stay.”
Carbone said from May 2013 to May 2014, the unemployment rate in Connecticut dropped and the number of nonfarm jobs in that time period grew. But he cautioned against celebrating the statistics.
One sector that saw a significant increase was leisure and hospitality. “These are typical low-wage jobs. They are the types of jobs that are not full time,” he said.
In fact, the industry had the lowest average weekly hours worked in 2013 with an average of 25.8 hours per week, down from 27.6 hours in 2007, Carbone said.
Having more people depend on part-time work has resulted in an increased reliance on government support. He noted the number of people depending on food stamps rose in February to 46 million, up 64 percent from 28 million in December 2007.
The WorkPlace is working on several initiatives to address the problem, including a program that will create an exchange to provide businesses with a dependable pipeline of qualified workers.
At the same time, workers will be matched with multiple part-time or seasonal employments in order to create the equivalent of a full-time job.
The WorkPlace is in the process of revamping and replicating its “Platform to Employment” program, for which it was recognized by President Barack Obama in January.
The group also heard from U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who briefly talked about the Workforce Investment Act and its potential impact to the area’s efforts. He said an innovation fund — an account for workforce training innovations — could aid programs like The WorkPlace.
He said there will also be more emphasis on a coordinated statewide workforce strategy.
“I think a new WIA has new opportunities for The WorkPlace specifically,” he said.
Murphy said he has seen the benefits of similar programs and told the story of a homeless man with whom he spent a cold day in December. That man recently found a home and job because of a program in New Haven, Murphy said.
At the event, Denise Taft Davidoff, vice-chairwoman of the board of directors, also announced that The WorkPlace recently reached the $100 million mark in its fundraising since 1996.
She noted the organization has never depended solely on government grants for its funding.
“That has never been the way of The WorkPlace,” she said. “You just don’t do things like that when Joe Carbone is your leader.”