MADISON — Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce released the third episode of its limited video series based on WMC Foundation’s Wisconsin Competitiveness Report — highlighting the challenges facing Wisconsin’s economy and what it will take to move forward. In the episode, WMC’s President/CEO Kurt R. Bauer and Associate Vice President of Government Relations Rachel Ver Velde discuss Wisconsin’s demographic dilemma, workforce shortage, and disastrous educational outcomes.
Bauer and Ver Velde kick off the episode discussing Wisconsin’s aging population and contracting workforce. The median age in Wisconsin is 40.7 — more than a year older than the national average. Residents age 65 and older make up 19.2 percent of the population, compared to 18 percent nationally. Additionally, the state’s labor force rate peaked in 1997 and has declined since. Last year, it hit a record low, with less than 65 percent of residents working or seeking work.
“In Wisconsin, we actually have a lower labor force participation rate than at the height of the pandemic in April 2020. We need to get people off the sidelines, back to work, and make sure that government programs are not encouraging people to sit on the sidelines. The best thing we can do for any person is make sure that they have a job, and that they are able to sustain themselves and their family.” — Rachel Ver Velde
The conversation then turns to Wisconsin’s education system and the impact poor student outcomes could have on the state’s future workforce. Nearly two‑thirds of Wisconsin students are below grade level in math, and seven in 10 students are not reading at grade level.
“If you can’t read, you can’t learn. These numbers are really alarming, and frankly, it’s a scandal. We are not talking about it enough, and it should be a major topic of this election cycle.” — Kurt R. BauerWatch the video here.