Though holiday season spirits are usually merry and bright, concerns about the economy and labor market are leaving many people feeling a lot gloomier. In addition to surveys reflecting how tough it has become to land a new job, a huge majority of employees questioned also said their current work doesn’t pay enough to keep up with the cost of living. Business owners should know their companies aren’t the only ones pulled by economic riptides.
A recently released poll of 1,200 employees by job posting platform Monster found a whopping 95 percent of respondents reporting their “wage has not kept up with inflation,” and no longer covers their fixed living costs. Only 9 percent of those participants said they’d received a raise in recent months to help them keep pace with rising prices. That led 75 percent of workers questioned saying they’d cut out nonessential expenses — up from 64 percent this time last year — and 42 percent saying they’d taken on debt to finance spending they had made.
In response to that financial pinch, 56 percent of poll participants said they’d begun looking for higher paying work to stay above water. Yet at the same time nearly 70 percent of respondents acknowledged it has gotten harder to find new opportunities — up from 57 percent last year. Meanwhile, another 50 percent said they worried about losing the jobs they have, as employers cut costs and reconfigure workforces. The reduced headcounts and increased workloads can amplify feelings of burnout and hurt productivity.
Those concerns are backed up results of other surveys. For example, 49 percent of employees answering a poll by remote and hybrid work posting platform Flexjobs said they were worried being laid off. Moreover, 26 percent of those respondents said fears about losing their jobs were higher than they were just six months ago.
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But that doesn’t mean participants — many of whom complained of burnout, blocked career advancement, or pay levels outstripped by inflation — are enthusiastic about the jobs they have. Fully 93 percent of participants said they’d be eager to ditch current employers for more fulfilling opportunities or increased pay, but acknowledged under acute financial pressures made them stay put.
A similar willingness to seek jobs paying above cost of living levels voiced in the Monster survey led authors of the report on its findings to warn employers that those attitudes may eventually affect staff stability if left unaddressed.
“With nearly all workers reporting that their wages are not keeping pace with inflation, the cost-of-living crisis is redefining both financial stability and career choice,” the report noted, warning the survey’s results underlined a “disconnect between wages and economic reality” today.
“Employees are increasingly open to leaving jobs for higher pay, while financial stress is contributing to lower productivity and higher burnout,” the report continued. “For employers, this signals an urgent need to revisit compensation strategies, benefits, and support systems — or risk losing talent to competitors.”
There is a caveat in that, however — and it’s a big one for employers.
Company hiring rates have been virtually flat since May. And despite the most recent data in August showing the unemployment rate was a relatively low 4.3 percent, anemic job creation has most employees hanging on tightly to keep work they have. Trading up for higher wages or better career opportunities is no longer an option for most people.
Meanwhile, if the labor market looks grim for workers who already have jobs, it’s even more foreboding for people entering the labor market, especially recent college graduates and students preparing to pocket their diplomas.
According to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies that have been slashing entry-level positions and using artificial intelligence tools to perform those work tasks iaren’t expecting to reverse course soon.
The organization’s poll found “employers are projecting just a 1.6 percent increase in hiring for the Class of 2026 when compared to the Class of 2025,” a report on the results said. As a result, 51 percent of business respondents evaluated the current labor market for those younger job hunters as either poor or fair — the highest level since 2020 when 65 percent participants described it that way.
As a result, a lot of people may be putting finding a new job, or hanging on to the one they have, at the very top of their holiday wish lists, but without being terribly confident they’ll get what they want.
The entire job market is in turmoil, we know, but a new report highlights that it’s worse for this year’s graduating class than for people starting their working lives. Most job seekers say the entire process of finding and then applying for work took much more effort. If your company is looking for fresh, young talent, this news could inspire you to change your own recruiting efforts.
The new study, from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and Texas-based recruitment service Indeed, found that on average Class of 2025 graduates sent out 10 job applications for every six that the Class of 2024 sent, HRDive reports. They were also sending out applications earlier, beginning around 6.5 months before graduating, compared to an average of 6 months in 2024. This might suggest they’re conscious of the worsening state of the employment market, but NACE said it thinks the opposite is true.
In a press release accompanying the report, the group noted that the mean number of job offers this year’s graduates received after sending out applications was 0.78, a significantly low figure, and lower than last year’s 0.83 and seriously down from the average 1.13 and 1.14 offers the Classes of 2023 and 2022 landed during the same phase of their life. But compared to last year, graduates were keener to accept these offers: 86.7 percent of seniors who received an offer accepted it, compared to 81.2 percent last year and 85.1 percent in 2023. The differences here are more subtle, but still point to a graduating year that’s slightly keener to secure a job sooner rather than later.
Graduates were, compared to earlier classes, “more likely to say they were unsure about their plans, and more were planning to enter the military, suggesting they were unsure about private-sector employment,” NACE noted. Meanwhile many of this year’s graduating class understand the value of experiential education, and 84 percent of the cohort took part in an “internship, co-op, or other experiential learning program” the report said, also noting that students “overwhelmingly” said internships were the top way to develop their skills.
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Curiously, despite other reports suggesting that AI use during the job application process is soaring to the point that recruiters are overwhelmed, fewer than one in three students in the NACE survey said they’d used the controversial tech during the application process, and the report says only 22 percent of employers used the tech themselves during recruiting.
The big lesson for your company here is that the changes in the job market affecting new graduates may impact the business of finding and recruiting new talent. The pool of available candidates may be bigger than expected, and the number of applications you receive for open posts may be up compared to what your HR team has seen in recent years — affecting the time and effort they need to put in to downselect to the final choice.
Meanwhile, a separate report again highlights that the kind of perks you may have to offer to attract Gen-Z workers may be different from those that appealed to older generations of worker. Professional services company KMPG’s new U.S. CEO Timothy Walsh is trying to lure Gen-Z workers to the firm by offering up a new office suite that’s “outfitted with moody lounges and a barista bar,” according to a report at Fortune. Having joined the firm as an intern over 30 years ago, Walsh has seen many aspects of the business change—including the new push for entry-level workers to manage entire teams of AI agents. Refurbished headquarters are an effort to try to attract workers to work in the office more per week, as opposed to strict RTO mandates like those from companies like Amazon and JPMorgan, but they also are designed to facilitate hybrid work setups, since these remain popular.
Walsh is clearly aware of this fact, and also that Gen-Z staff are tending to look for more meaningful job perks than appeal to older age cohorts, as well as employers that facilitate their desire for better work-life balance. All of this could feed into the way you try to appeal to the Class of 2025.
The goal of the new facility is to help job seekers find employment, as Maryland and Prince George’s County have been hit hard by federal job losses and other blows to the job market.
Leaders from the city of Bowie and Prince George’s County gathered Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, to cut the ribbon on a new workforce training center.(WTOP/John Domen)
Leaders from the city of Bowie and Prince George’s County gathered Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, to cut the ribbon on a new workforce training center.(WTOP/John Domen)
It’s been several months in the making, and Wednesday morning leaders from the city of Bowie and Prince George’s County gathered at the Kenhill Center — the original city hall — to cut the ribbon on a workforce training center.
The goal of the new facility is to help job seekers find employment. It comes at a time when the state of Maryland, and Prince George’s County in particular, has been hit hard by federal job losses and other blows to the job market.
“We have a computer lab that’s free and open to residents, where you can come and do job searches, work on your resume and do skills assessment,” Kay Starr, with the city of Bowie, said. “There’s also free online skills training provided through Employ Prince George’s and we also are going to offer career coaching and counseling.”
Maryland has seen more job losses due to federal cutbacks than any other state. Prince George’s County has seen its unemployment rate jump from 3.8% in August of 2024 to 4.8% this past August, which is the most up to date number on employment that exists.
“You can learn so many things from the systems that we have in Employ Prince George’s to really be able to thrive in this economy,” said state Sen. Alonzo Washington, who is also the director of strategic partnerships with Employ Prince George’s.
“The opportunities they can tap into is resume building, ensuring they have online training that will be ready for them 24 hours a day, and ensuring that they have access to our technical assistance adviser.”
Employ Prince George’s also offers 14 different certification programs. This workforce training center is the third one to open in the county. Similar facilities can be found in Largo and National Harbor.
Eventually, Washington hopes there will be centers in all 27 of the county’s municipalities.
“Have a jobs and resource lab right in their community, so it’s in walking distance of all the residents that live in their town,” Washington said. “So that they can have an opportunity.”
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“After two down years, we’ve seen the seasonal hiring appetite actually come in a bit stronger than last year,” said Indeed Canada’s senior economist Brendon Bernard, who also authored the report.
Bernard said demand for seasonal workers generally mimics the broader state of the economy. The last two holidays were overshadowed by high interest rates and inflation, which tempered businesses’ hiring appetite as households reined in spending. This year, however, consumer spending seems to be stabilizing as many retailers report “a fairly solid year,” Bernard said.
Sandra Lavoy, metro market director with Robert Half, agrees that the holiday job market is looking a bit healthier this year. Lavoy said this comes after several industries—such as service and retail—have been running their businesses with lean staffing. But with the holiday season around the corner, it’s harder to maintain those levels. “When you look at seasonal work, it’s about two months, maybe, three months,” she said. “You have no choice because the business does increase significantly.”
Temporary holiday work in high demand
But landing a holiday job is not as easy as it was a few years ago. The report shows more Canadians are searching for work. The October labour market report from Statistics Canada shows the unemployment rate remains elevated at 6.9%, despite a couple months of surprising job gains.
Indeed Canada tracks holiday-related job postings on its website, parsing through listings for mentions of words such as Christmas, Xmas, Santa, holiday, and other related terms. It also tracks job seeker searches for these terms. The report says the share of job seeker searches on Indeed containing seasonal job-related terms has increased. In early November, about three out of every 1,000 Canadian job searches included a holiday-related term, up slightly from a year earlier, and meaningfully higher from November 2023 and 2022, at 2.5 and 2.2, respectively.
“Stronger interest in seasonal work isn’t a great sign for the health of the overall labour market,” the report said, adding that it could indicate some are considering seasonal work to make ends meet. That has likely made it more difficult to land a temporary job when compared to previous years, Bernard said. “That might cause folks, who would in other times prefer to work a more stable permanent job, needing to look for temporary work just for now,” he said.
Seasonal hiring slower than summer months
The weak labour market created a competitive environment for seasonal jobs in the summer, but Bernard said it’s hard to gauge whether the holiday hiring season will also be that fierce. While there are some similarities in economic conditions, the labour demand and types of hiring are starkly different for the summer season, Bernard said. “There’s a lot more hiring that happens in the summer than around the holidays, just because there’s so much more work that gets done over the summer months,” he said.
Unlike this winter season, where postings are slightly higher, Indeed Canada’s summer hiring report showed summer job postings had dropped 22% in May year-over-year. “We did see a bit of a change in direction (this winter), which is good to see, even if it’s not going to be a roaring market,” Bernard said.
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The complexity of the U.S. healthcare system is only one reason it’s more important than ever for workers and employers to have a proper handle on workplace benefits. In a rapidly changing labor market, coupled with shifting employee expectations, the right benefits package can be a big motivator for workers, and a draw for highly qualified job applicants. But a new report suggests that many employers may not be adequately explaining their companies’ benefits to their employees. It’s a wakeup call for business onwers to drag their communications into the 21 century and educate people versus the social media platform that are the source of most of their online information.
According to a new survey from New York-based financial services outfit Equitable, younger members of the workforce are turning to online sources and social media to help them properly understand the workplace benefits they’re offered. You might think “great! Job done…less effort for the HR team!” but the data shows otherwise: some 40 percent of the 1,000 people Equitable surveyed said they didn’t feel confident in understanding the voluntary benefits their employer offered. And while the data show 55 percent of all workers “still rely on HR materials and information sessions from employers to understand their workplace benefits,” 37 percent of Gen-Z have used social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Reddit and even YouTube (that great source of “how to” videos) to seek out benefits information — the highest percentage of any generation responding to the survey. Meanwhile, Millennials lead the age groups who use AI for the same info: fully 30 percent say they’ve used AI like this.
What’s driving the trend of people trying to figure out benefits on their own? It may be mostly about medical costs in the complex, layered U.S. health system. Equitable’s data show 80 percent of Americans think an unplanned medical expense — like an accident, or a sudden serious illness — could “derail” their long term financial planning. Younger workers are more anxious, with 89 percent of Gen-Z and Millennial workers feeling this way, compared to 65 percent of baby boomers. This could be thanks to the macroeconomic financial disparities between generations, with report after report showing how the boomer generation has money set aside in ways that’re inaccessible to younger generations.
The amounts of money concerned aren’t that onerous, either: Equitable’s data show that over a quarter of the people who say an unexpected bill could upset their plans pin the financially damaging limit at around $1,000.
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Why should you care about this?
Equitable’s report has a clear reason for you: it notes that a survey of over 500 small to medium-size businesses, nearly every respondent said voluntary workplace benefits are “key to attracting and retaining employees.” And nearly three in four small business owners think these benefits show that they’re caring and committed employers. Reputations like this, a recent report showed, are perhaps more important than they’ve ever been.
But the same survey said four in 10 employers said low participation was a barrier for them offering or expanding voluntary benefits. What may be driving this? Overly complex, old-fashioned pamphlets perhaps? Or a benefits education program that’s slightly out of date with current offerings from third party suppliers?
The big take-away is that younger workers really are looking for meaningful workplace benefits when they’re choosing which jobs to apply for — and emphasizing those that can benefit their mental health. As Gen-Z joins the workforce in increasing numbers, this is definitely something you need to plan for, lest you may miss out on excellent new talent.
Americans are growing increasingly concerned about their ability to find a good job under President Donald Trump, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll finds, in what is a potential warning sign for Republicans as a promised economic boom has given way to hiring freezes and elevated inflation.
High prices for groceries, housing and health care persist as a fear for many households, while rising electricity bills and the cost of gas at the pump are also sources of anxiety, according to the survey.
Some 47 percent of U.S. adults are “not very” or “not at all confident” they could find a good job if they wanted to, an increase from 37 percent when the question was last asked in October 2023.
Electricity bills are a “major” source of stress for 36 percent of U.S. adults at a time when the expected build-out of data centers for artificial intelligence could further tax the power grid. Just more than one-half said the cost of groceries are a “major” source of financial stress, about 4 in 10 said the cost of housing and health care were a serious strain and about one-third said they were feeling high stress about gasoline prices.
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The survey suggests an ongoing vulnerability for Trump, who returned to the White House in January with claims he could quickly tame the inflation that surged after the pandemic during Democratic President Joe Biden’s term. Instead, Trump’s popularity on the economy has remained low amid a mix of tariffs, federal worker layoffs and partisan sniping that has culminated in a government shutdown.
Linda Weavil, 76, voted for Trump last year because he “seems like a smart businessman.” But she said in an interview that the Republican’s tariffs have worsened inflation, citing the chocolate-covered pecans sold for her church group fundraiser that now cost more.
“I think he’s doing a great job on a lot of things, but I’m afraid our coffee and chocolate prices have gone up because of tariffs,” the retiree from Greensboro, North Carolina, said. “That’s a kick in the back of the American people.”
Voters changed presidents, but they’re not feeling better about Trump’s economy
The poll found that 36 percent of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling the economy, a figure that has held steady this year after he imposed tariffs that caused broad economic uncertainty. Among Republicans, 71 percent feel positive about his economic leadership. Yet that approval within Trump’s own party is relatively low in ways that could be problematic for Republicans in next month’s races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, and perhaps even in the 2026 midterm elections.
At roughly the same point in Biden’s term, in October 2021, an AP-NORC poll found that 41 percent of U.S. adults approved of how he was handling the economy, including about 73 percent of Democrats. That overall number was a little higher than Trump’s, primarily because of independents — 29 percent approved of how Biden was handling the economy, compared with the 18 percent who currently support Trump’s approach.
The job market was meaningfully stronger in terms of hiring during Biden’s presidency as the United States was recovering from pandemic-related lockdowns. But hiring has slowed sharply under Trump with monthly job gains averaging less than 27,000 after the April tariff announcements.
People see that difference.
Four years ago, 36 percent of those in the survey were “extremely” or “very” confident in their ability to get a good job, but that has fallen to 21 percent now.
Biden’s approval on the economy steadily deteriorated through the middle of 2022 when inflation hit a four-decade high, creating an opening for Trump’s political comeback.
Electricity costs are an emerging worry
In some ways, Trump has made the inflation problems harder by choosing to cancel funding for renewable energy projects and imposing tariffs on the equipment needed for factories and power plants. Those added costs are coming before the anticipated construction of data centers for AI that could further push up prices without more construction.
Even though 36 percent see electricity as a major concern, there are some who have yet to feel a serious financial squeeze. In the survey, 40 percent identified electricity costs as a “minor” stress, while 23 percent said their utility bills are “not a source” of stress.
Kevin Halsey, 58, of Normal, Illinois, said his monthly electricity bills used to be $90 during the summer because he had solar panels, but have since jumped to $300. Halsey, who works in telecommunications, voted Democratic in last year’s presidential election and described the economy right now as “crap.”
“I’ve got to be pessimistic,” he said. “I don’t see this as getting better.”
At a fundamental level, Trump finds himself in the same economic dilemma that bedeviled Biden. There are signs the economy remains relatively solid with a low unemployment rate, stock market gains and decent economic growth, yet the public continues to be skeptical about the economy’s health.
Some 68 percent of U.S. adults describe the U.S. economy these days as “poor,” while 32 percent say it’s “good.” That’s largely consistent with assessments of the economy over the past year.
In addition, 59 percent, say their family finances are “holding steady.” But only 12 percent say they’re “getting ahead,” and 28 percent say they are “falling behind.”
People see plenty of expenses but few opportunities
The sense of economic precarity is coming from many different directions, with indications that many think middle-class stability is falling out of reach.
The vast majority of U.S. adults feel at least “minor” stress about the cost of groceries, health care, housing, the amount they pay in taxes, what they are paid at work and the cost of gas for their cars.
In the survey, 47 percent, say they are “not very” or “not at all” confident they could pay an unexpected medical expense while 52 percent have low confidence they will have enough saved for their retirement. Also, 63 percent, are “not very” or “not at all” confident they could buy a new home if they wanted to.
Young adults are much less confident about their ability to buy a house, though confidence is not especially high across the board. About 8 in 10 U.S. adults under age 30 say they are “not very confident” or “not at all confident” they would be able to buy a house, compared with about 6 in 10 adults 60 and older.
For 54 percent of U.S. adults, the cost of groceries is a “major source” of stress in their life right now.
Unique Hopkins, 36, of Youngstown, Ohio, said she is now working two jobs after her teenage daughter had a baby, leaving Hopkins with a sense that she can barely tread water as part of the “working poor.” She voted for Trump in 2016, only to switch to Democrats after she felt his ego kept him from uniting the country and solving problems.
“It’s his way or no way,” she said. “Nobody is going to unite with Trump if it’s all about you, you, you.”
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Being rejected for a job can be a brutal experience that really hits job applicants’ confidence, especially if they were among the favored candidates but didn’t get an offer. That can foster deeply negative feelings toward the organization that delivered that final “thanks, but no thanks.” But a new study shows that this really doesn’t have to happen, and how a hiring manager frames a rejection really can impact the chances that qualified candidates who are turned away — maybe because they were a close second choices — will apply again in the future. There are also other lessons here in how to say “no” in a business context.
The research, out of Philadelphia’s Temple University, found that people who are given a meaningful rejection notice that explains the reasoning that led to the rejection, even if it’s brief, were much more likely to engage with that company again in the future. In fact responses that better explained the rejection rationale increased retention by over 21 percentage points. That’s a sizable improvement, and, as science news site notes, it might be because if a hiring manager explains why they said “no” this time, it might empower someone to try again in the future because their uncertainty about the outcome is lowered.
The study’s lead author, Sunil Wattal, associate dean of research and doctoral programs at the Fox School of Business at Temple, told Phys.org that the results really show how “even simple things can make a difference in terms of how a rejection is received.” This can involve seemingly low-effort actions like “being more friendly or being more informative,” alongside “being more informative,” when you tell someone they were rejected. It’s clear that “no one likes being rejected,” Wattal noted.
The study used user data from social media-like coding platform Stack Overflow for the core “rejection” analysis, but Wattal told the science outlet that it’s definitely applicable in a broader context. It’s common for companies to “send simple, one- to two-sentence emails to let a candidate know that they will not be getting a job. How likely is that candidate going to be to apply for a job in the future?” he asked. Worse, if an “employer ghosts somebody or just rejects them with one line, then they’re never going to apply to the company again.”
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The point here is that the recruitment process is costly both in time and money terms — paring an extensive applicant list, even with the help of AI tools — takes effort by HR workers and management. The interview process consumes more time, and it’s easy to see why companies may be tempted, once they’ve selected the top candidate, to brush off the other applicants with little additional thought. But the top few members of that list may be a good fit for future roles in your company, and you’ve already invested time and money getting to know them. If all it takes to tempt them to reapply in the future is a more friendly “no” than you may have planned for, then why not try it?
You may have gotten to this point in the story and considered this research as simple common sense.
But under the current fraught job market, the job application process has become much more difficult, not least because many HR managers are experiencing burnout, and because AI tools allow job applicants to try a scattergun effect and apply to many more jobs than they’d have been able to do manually. Anything you can do to simplify this process, such as encouraging near-miss candidates to reapply in the future, is a boon.
Separately Wattal notes the same line of reasoning about rejecting job applicants can be applied elsewhere. This includes talking to customers who have faced rejections for refunds, for example: when you handle these rejections in a motivational way, explaining your rationale in a polite way, Wattal said it can even “actually strengthen trust, loyalty and long-term engagement.”
It seems clear that AI is having an impact on the jobs market, mainly in the technology sector, and mostly impacting entry-level positions. A new report from Goldman Sachs confirms and expands on this trend, and also sketches out a near future where companies will see their productivity grow mainly thanks to improving AI tech, with only a small contribution from increasing their headcount. This is a “jobless growth” situation, Goldman economists David Mericle and Pierfrancesco Mei wrote in an investor note this week.
What Mericle and Mei actually predicted was “modest job growth” in the coming years, even as the economy sees “robust GDP growth.” This disparity implies that the solid increases in productivity aren’t coming from more and more people entering the workforce — instead something else will drive up companies’ output, and that something is AI. As to why there will only be “modest” labor supply rises, the economists suggest it’s a mix of “population aging and lower immigration,” Fortunereported.
The other effect the report highlights is that while we’re seeing AI impact certain jobs, the bigger impacts and long-term structural changes to the job market won’t really be visible until a recession hits. In a poor economic environment where cost cutting gets prioritized, “companies use recessions to restructure and streamline their workforce by laying off workers in less productive areas.”
But we’ll also see AI hitting jobs more in the near future too — Fortune notes that the share of company leaders mentioning “both AI and employment in the same context on earnings calls,” has reached “historic highs.” Given that the modern AI era, kicked off by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, is really only a handful of years old, the use of “historic” may be overblown here.
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Or maybe not. Bloomberg reports that Goldman Sachs told its own staff this week that they can expect to see another round of layoffs, driven by the bank’s efforts to cut costs. Goldman’s also decided to “constrain headcount growth” until the end of the year. One simple way for a company — particularly one in the financial sector — to cut costs is AI adoption at scale, tasking new tech tools to tackle mundane duties that lower level workers may have performed beforehand.
Meanwhile, sales software giant Salesforce has put a number on AI cost savings to date: $100 million, yearly. Bloomberg notes the company has been “vocal” about its own adoption of AI technology, even as it sells agent-powered AI tools to its many customers through its new Agentforce platform. The AI moves have been driven by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who said recently that he’d “never been more excited about anything in my entire career.” Speaking at the company’s Dreamforce conference this week, Benioff said that AI tech has allowed the company to reach out to customers who’d previously have fallen through the net, with human workers not having the capacity to call them back.
This means as well as saving the company millions (thanks to aggressively slashing its customer support worker numbers) AI is helping bring in more revenue. This combo is exactly the kind of benefit AI evangelists promise the technology can deliver if it’s applied carefully.
What’s the lesson here for your company?
You may see these different headlines as a solid thumbs-up for the potential benefits of deploying AI technology across your own enterprise, in search of some of those promised savings and worker productivity boosts. Salesforce’s example is particularly eye-catching. But remember: this company is a sales-focused software outfit that is deploying carefully developed AI tools it’s in control of throughout its own sales-centric operation. This is a reminder that you need to very carefully choose which third-party AI tools you’re using, and make certain you’re deploying them in the right way in the right places in your operation.
The other takeaway is that you’ll likely see some dramatic shifts in the talent pool when you’re looking to hire new staff members, both because there may be more people looking for entry level work than before, and also over the longer term as AI begins to reshape the job market.
AI evangelists continue to insist that AI is improving workers’ efficiency and thus business productivity, freeing up staff from mundane duties to do more meaningful work. Not as many boosters are cheering the fact that it’s just as easy for companies that have gone all in on the new technology to cut labor costs by replacing people’s jobs. According to a new report thousands of jobs have already gone from the job market this year as AI has assumed those duties instead, and fully 7,000 of the losses happened in September alone. All of this may feed into your thinking about rolling out AI at your own company.
The data, from Chicago-based executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, attributes 17,375 job losses to adoption of AI tech since the start of 2025. Most of these cuts were made public in the second half of the year, industry news site HRDive reports.
The numbers are dramatic, especially since a similar report from Challenger in July said that among some 20,000 jobs lost to “automation” in the first half of the year, only 75 were directly connected to AI. Andy Challenger, senior vice president at the firm, told CFODive at the time that the suspicion was that many more jobs were actually lost to AI. “We do see companies using the term ‘technological update’ more often than we have over the past decade, so our suspicion is that some of the AI job cuts that are likely happening are falling into that category,” Challenger said then, also noting that some firms were being careful because they “don’t want press on it.”
In the new report, Challenger noted that it’s mainly tech firms that are “undergoing incredible disruption,” because of AI. Challenger also backed up many earlier reports by noting that the buzzy, controversial tech is “not only costing jobs, but also making it difficult to land positions, particularly for entry-level engineers.”
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HRDive notes that it’s losses at Salesforce that may be linked to those massive AI-related job cuts in recent months, with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff noting in August that customer service staff numbers were slashed by about 4,000 after AI agents took on some customer handling duties. The interesting wrinkle here is that Salesforce is one of the big tech names that is pivoting aggressively and openly to adopting AI tech, and is even selling it to its customers with the promise that agent-based AIs can save them money. Benioff in early 2025 also said “my message to CEOs right now is that we are the last generation to manage only humans.” In his vision for future company leadership, managers will be steering both AIs and humans through their day to day operations.
While 17,000 jobs lost to AI sounds like a lot, it’s dwarfed by other causes, the Challenger report shows. DOGE-related actions is the “leading reason for job cut announcements in 2025,” the report notes, with 293,753 planned layoffs connected to DOGE activities, including reductions to federal workforce numbers and the cutting of contractor deals. Nearly 21,000 more jobs have been lost as part of what Challenger’s report says is “DOGE Downstream Impact,” where funding cuts have hit nonprofits that depend on federal grants. Traditional market and general economic concerns drove another 208,227 cuts in 2025, the report also notes. This means DOGE and the typical workings of the economy are responsible for around 30 times as many job losses than AI.
But it would be unreasonable to assume AI’s body count won’t rise, considering Big Tech’s push to get AI into the workplace, while developing increasingly capable AI tools that can handle human jobs. And while Challenger notes that tech-centric firms are bearing the brunt of AI-related job cuts right now, it would be sensible to guess that other industries will soon follow.
What’s the takeaway for your company?
Primarily that it may be a good idea to reassure your staff that if you’re rolling out AI tools to streamline operations, you’re not actually planning on downsizing your workforce. ”AI won’t be stealing anyone’s job here” is a strong message that will build your team’s trust, assuming that this is actually the case.
Another side effect may be a glut of workers in the job marketplace. Since many job seekers are using AI tools to boost their hunt for new employment, you may actually see many more applicants than before for open positions at your company, and your HR team may be quickly overburdened.
Employers are on the same page about the issues plaguing their workforce.
A new survey from Illinois-based risk management outfit Gallagher looked at what’s worrying the country’s employers in 2025, and you might see your own concerns reflected in the list, since it lines up with many of the social, technological and political winds blowing across the U.S. right now.
1. Worker retention
After the perennial concerns of raking in reliable revenues and sales, employee retention is the top issue on the minds of over 4,000 leaders surveyed by Gallagher, reflecting workers’ changing ideas about what constitutes a “career,” and as the pressures at work force some people to look for greener pastures.
Some of these changes are driven by the way Gen-Z thinks differently about the workplace, of course, and as the generation currently entering the workforce in ever-greater numbers, they may help set the trends. Gen-Z workers are known for valuing their mental health and work-life balance more than previous generations, and are rejecting traditional work culture norms — including being willing to ditch a job over issues like the Sunday Scaries.
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2. Burnout
Meanwhile, social, economic and job-market instability, in addition to sweeping political changes, are adding to the pressure that the typical worker experiences. Which is likely why Gallagher’s data shows 67 percent of employers — more than two in every three — are also highly concerned about the mental health of their workers, HRDive reports.
Stress and burnout issues can have long-term impacts on worker morale, efficiency and engagement (possibly tempting some workers to quit) and ultimately this will impact a company’s profits. Yet the data show that while employers are deeply worried about these issues, they’re not stepping up with solutions: only 24 percent give mental health training to managers, leaders or HR teams — who are, according to other reports, deeply stressed out themselves. Also, less than half of employers say their leadership teams are “well-equipped” to refer stressed-out staff to mental health services. This, the report says, is a “critical gap” in worker support.
3. DEI
The third non-financial issue on employers’ minds is related to inclusion and diversity. This might be surprising, given the Trump administration’s pressure against DEI, but it seems that corporate America thinks very differently: 74 percent of employers say they’re implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives this year. While larger employees are more likely to follow this path than smaller ones (84 percent of large organizations) fully 67 percent of small companies are intent on pursuing inclusion and diversity—the report says they view it as a “stabilizing force during economic uncertainty.” Conscious of political background, perhaps, the report says companies are “refocusing their efforts,” even though the fundamental ideas remain.
One interesting aspect of inclusion Gallagher noted in its report is the role of buzzy AI tech. Employers are “leveraging it to reduce bias in recruitment, tailor engagement practices and support equitable decision-making,” the survey found. But, as with the issues in mental health training, few employers are stepping up with appropriate training for D&I: just 24 percent train workers by “embedding inclusive behaviors into their daily role.”
Meanwhile D&I plans continue to offer significant benefits, which may explain their ongoing enthusiasm. The report says companies investing in these plans are “best positioned to attract and retain top talent,” since they “not only build trust but also foster resilience for long-term success,” as do concerted efforts to boost worker engagement, and supply wellbeing support.
What companies can do
What can you take away from this list of worries? You may, after all, have very different top concerns in mind after surviving through most of 2025.
Primarily, it means you should probably reinforce your company’s efforts to retain staff in the long term, deal with their stresses before they reach burnout levels, and follow your own path on DEI (even if you call the plan something different.) The Gallagher report shows these are strong worry-driving trends across American industry, and thus may be affecting your staff even if you’re unaware of the problem.
Also, reinforcing your staff training may be a good idea: Gallagher’s data did, after all, show how corporate training in DEI and mental health matters is lagging behind, even as these worries unsettle employers across the country.
The government shutdown that began Wednesday will deprive policymakers and investors of economic data vital to their decision-making at a time of unusual uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. economy.The absence will be felt almost immediately, as the government’s monthly jobs report scheduled for release Friday will likely be delayed. A weekly report on the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits — a proxy for layoffs that is typically published on Thursdays — will also be postponed.If the shutdown is short-lived, it won’t be very disruptive. But if the release of economic data is delayed for several weeks or longer, it could pose challenges, particularly for the Federal Reserve. The Fed is grappling with where to set a key interest rate at a time of conflicting signals, with inflation running above its 2% target and hiring nearly ground to a halt, driving the unemployment rate higher in August.The Fed typically cuts this rate when unemployment rises, but raises it — or at least leaves it unchanged — when inflation is rising too quickly. It’s possible the Fed will have little new federal economic data to analyze by its next meeting on Oct. 28-29, when it is widely expected to reduce its rate again.“The job market had been a source of real strength in the economy but has been slowing down considerably the past few months,” said Michael Linden, senior policy fellow at the left-leaning Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “It would be very good to know if that slowdown was continuing, accelerating, or reversing.”The Fed cut its rate by a quarter-point earlier this month and signaled it was likely to do so twice more this year. Fed officials said they would keep a close eye on how inflation and unemployment evolve, but that depends on the data being available.A key inflation report is scheduled for Oct. 15 and the government’s monthly retail sales report is slated for release the next day.“We’re in a meeting-by-meeting situation, and we’re going to be looking at the data,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during a news conference earlier this month.The economic picture has recently gotten cloudier. Despite slower hiring, there are signs that overall economic growth may be picking up. Consumers have stepped up their shopping and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimates the economy likely expanded at a healthy clip in the July-September quarter, after a large gain in the April-June period.A key question for the Fed is whether that growth can revive the job market, which this Friday’s report might have helped illustrate. Economists had forecast another month of weak hiring, with just 50,000 new positions added, according to a survey by FactSet. The unemployment rate was projected to stay at a still-low 4.3%.On Wall Street, investors obsess over the monthly jobs reports, typically issued the first Friday of every month. It’s a crucial indicator of the economy’s health and provides insights into how the Fed might adjust interest rates, which affects the cost of borrowing and influences how investors allocate their money.So far, investors don’t seem fazed by the shutdown. The broad S&P 500 stock index rose slightly Wednesday to an all-time high.Many businesses also rely on government data to gauge how the economy is faring. The Commerce Department’s monthly report on retail sales, for example, is a comprehensive look at the health of U.S. consumers and can influence whether companies make plans to expand or shrink their operations and workforces.For the time being, the Fed, economists, and investors will likely focus more on private data.On Wednesday, the payroll provider ADP issued its monthly employment data, which showed that businesses cut 32,000 jobs in September — a signal the economy is slowing. Still, ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said her firm’s report “was not intended to be a replacement” for government statistics.The ADP data does not capture what’s happening at government agencies, for example — an area of the economy that could be significantly affected by a lengthy shutdown.“Using a portfolio of private sector and government data gives you a better chance of capturing a very complicated economy in a complex world,” she said.The Fed will remain open no matter how long the shutdown lasts, because it funds itself from earnings on the government bonds and other securities it owns. It will continue to provide its monthly snapshots of industrial production, which includes mining, manufacturing, and utility output. The next industrial production report will be released Oct. 17.
NEW YORK —
The government shutdown that began Wednesday will deprive policymakers and investors of economic data vital to their decision-making at a time of unusual uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. economy.
The absence will be felt almost immediately, as the government’s monthly jobs report scheduled for release Friday will likely be delayed. A weekly report on the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits — a proxy for layoffs that is typically published on Thursdays — will also be postponed.
If the shutdown is short-lived, it won’t be very disruptive. But if the release of economic data is delayed for several weeks or longer, it could pose challenges, particularly for the Federal Reserve. The Fed is grappling with where to set a key interest rate at a time of conflicting signals, with inflation running above its 2% target and hiring nearly ground to a halt, driving the unemployment rate higher in August.
The Fed typically cuts this rate when unemployment rises, but raises it — or at least leaves it unchanged — when inflation is rising too quickly. It’s possible the Fed will have little new federal economic data to analyze by its next meeting on Oct. 28-29, when it is widely expected to reduce its rate again.
“The job market had been a source of real strength in the economy but has been slowing down considerably the past few months,” said Michael Linden, senior policy fellow at the left-leaning Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “It would be very good to know if that slowdown was continuing, accelerating, or reversing.”
The Fed cut its rate by a quarter-point earlier this month and signaled it was likely to do so twice more this year. Fed officials said they would keep a close eye on how inflation and unemployment evolve, but that depends on the data being available.
A key inflation report is scheduled for Oct. 15 and the government’s monthly retail sales report is slated for release the next day.
“We’re in a meeting-by-meeting situation, and we’re going to be looking at the data,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during a news conference earlier this month.
The economic picture has recently gotten cloudier. Despite slower hiring, there are signs that overall economic growth may be picking up. Consumers have stepped up their shopping and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimates the economy likely expanded at a healthy clip in the July-September quarter, after a large gain in the April-June period.
A key question for the Fed is whether that growth can revive the job market, which this Friday’s report might have helped illustrate. Economists had forecast another month of weak hiring, with just 50,000 new positions added, according to a survey by FactSet. The unemployment rate was projected to stay at a still-low 4.3%.
On Wall Street, investors obsess over the monthly jobs reports, typically issued the first Friday of every month. It’s a crucial indicator of the economy’s health and provides insights into how the Fed might adjust interest rates, which affects the cost of borrowing and influences how investors allocate their money.
So far, investors don’t seem fazed by the shutdown. The broad S&P 500 stock index rose slightly Wednesday to an all-time high.
Many businesses also rely on government data to gauge how the economy is faring. The Commerce Department’s monthly report on retail sales, for example, is a comprehensive look at the health of U.S. consumers and can influence whether companies make plans to expand or shrink their operations and workforces.
For the time being, the Fed, economists, and investors will likely focus more on private data.
On Wednesday, the payroll provider ADP issued its monthly employment data, which showed that businesses cut 32,000 jobs in September — a signal the economy is slowing. Still, ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said her firm’s report “was not intended to be a replacement” for government statistics.
The ADP data does not capture what’s happening at government agencies, for example — an area of the economy that could be significantly affected by a lengthy shutdown.
“Using a portfolio of private sector and government data gives you a better chance of capturing a very complicated economy in a complex world,” she said.
The Fed will remain open no matter how long the shutdown lasts, because it funds itself from earnings on the government bonds and other securities it owns. It will continue to provide its monthly snapshots of industrial production, which includes mining, manufacturing, and utility output. The next industrial production report will be released Oct. 17.
The unemployment rate is higher and there are more than 23,000 fewer jobs in Prince George’s County, Maryland, right now compared to 2019, before the COVID pandemic.
Despite Prince George’s County’s deep ties to the federal government and higher education sectors, local leaders say those same dependencies are now exposing vulnerabilities in the region’s labor market.
The unemployment rate is higher and there are 23,000 fewer jobs in Prince George’s County, Maryland, right now compared to 2019 before the COVID pandemic.
“We are heavily reliant on federal government for jobs in our county, and then we’re also heavily reliant on post secondary education,” said Walter Simmons, president and CEO of Employ Prince George’s.
He spoke to a county council committee on Monday.
“Post secondary education is heavily reliant on federal government funding,” Simmons said.
That may have helped during the pandemic, when the government was a source of stability, but that’s not the case anymore.
“On average, you would see 100 to 250 unemployment claimants per week. We’ve seen them jump up to 300 to 500, but then you also see it go back down,” Simmons told WTOP after the briefing.
“The scare is, is that unemployment data is based on where the person worked. So Maryland also isn’t getting all of the people that have been laid off in their place of work that’s a D.C. agency, where the agency is in D.C. So while we aren’t seeing it, that doesn’t mean the numbers don’t exist in larger numbers, we just don’t have access to it,” he added.
Simmons said more regional cooperation and data sharing would offer an even clearer picture of the true situation. But he also expressed confidence that laid off federal workers will be able to bounce back — though he didn’t say it would be seamless.
“The hardest part that we’ve seen is the realization that most likely, there could be a pay decrease for that exact same job when you transition — when you take that job and move from the federal government to the private sector or the federal government to local government,” Simmons said.
Simmons said federal workers are skilled, qualified and have the experience.
“They are going to be easily attractive to private sector employers,” he said. “The big thing that we’re going to work out is are they going to be willing to take that pay scale?”
Simmons also said the county’s youth unemployment rate — defined as any worker 24 and under — is also significantly higher than the national average. In county council districts 4, 5, 7 and 9, the youth unemployment rate is over 12%. In District 6, it’s 22%.
There are a myriad of reasons for it, but a lot of it has to do with education. For kids of school age, too many aren’t showing up to class. Those who are out of school might lack required literacy and math skills — in some cases because they aren’t native English speakers.
He said he believes other social factors also influence that.
“We have community problems that are systemic. They’ve been around for 50 years, and we’re working to address them,” he said. “This didn’t happen over one day, and it’s not going to be fixed in one day.”
Simmons also said they need to boost enrollment in career and technical education programs around the county. Nonprofit groups with expertise in that area are also contributing to the work of turning things around.
“We have not only identified the strategies, identified funding, and now we’re going through implementation,” he said.
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The Desjardins Economics report, released Thursday, comes as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre cites decades-high youth unemployment levels to attack an immigration program for temporary foreign workers. Statistics Canada’s latest labour force survey shows the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24 hit 14.6% in July—a nearly 15-year high outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Desjardins report said that the recent rise in youth unemployment is more typical of recessions. Drilling down deeper into the youth cohort, StatCan said returning students aged 15 and 16 faced an unemployment rate of 31.4% in July, the height of the summer jobs market.
Desjardins economist and report author Kari Norman said she sees the stress of the tough summer labour market at home. “I’ve seen my own kids and my friends’ kids struggle with finding summer jobs, co-op placements, anything like that,” she said.
Temporary worker program at centre of jobs debate
Poilievre on Wednesday described young people in Canada as “generation screwed” for their lack of job opportunities. He blamed Ottawa’s temporary foreign worker program for competing with youth for scarce job openings and called on the Liberals to scrap the regime.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that he is committed to reducing immigration but is not scrapping the temporary foreign worker programs, citing provincial support for the initiative. He opened the door to further adjustments to Canada’s overall immigration plan.
LJ Valencia, another of the Desjardins report’s authors, said that much of the current situation traces back to the COVID-19 pandemic recovery—when businesses were hungry for labour and Ottawa ramped up the inflow of foreign workers and loosened restrictions on international students to meet the demand. “Job opportunities are declining because the economy can’t keep up with this state of population growth we’ve seen over the past few years,” he said.
How to pay for school and have a life—a guide for students and parents
Ottawa’s immigration targets could rebalance the youth labour market
But Desjardins also finds that it’s these young international students, or the children of recently arrived workers now old enough to enter the labour force themselves, who are disproportionately struggling to find work today, compared to those born in Canada.
The Liberal government has enacted plans to slow the pace of population growth and limit the number of non-permanent residents in future years. Desjardins’ economists say that these targets, if achieved, would help to bring supply and demand back into better balance in the youth labour market.
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“Reducing the number of youth through tightening immigration both in international students and other newcomers should soften the blow a little bit and help the youth that are still here find the jobs that are available to that age cohort,” Norman said.
Digital shift and automation squeeze youth opportunities
But other aspects of the modern economy are also conspiring to put pressure on young workers.
The rise of the gig economy—app-based and often precarious work—comes with barriers aimed at the youngest workers, Desjardins notes in the report. Age restrictions on these apps can limit participation to those aged 18 and older. As a result, Normand said, kids who previously got paid for doing chores like walking dogs in their neighbourhood may be increasingly shut out from that early work experience due to the digital shift. “My youngest in particular would love to get a job walking dogs, cat sitting, that kind of thing, but at 16, just isn’t eligible,” she said.
The rise of artificial intelligence and generative AI applications could also be creating a barrier. Desjardins cites a Stanford University study published last week that found while core-working-age U.S. workers have so far faced minimal job disruption from AI, youth are starting to see employment losses. Valencia argued that could be the result of fewer entry-level job opportunities.
Norman offers the example of an AI tool that’s good at finding legal case studies for a law firm. If a firm outsources that kind of work, which it normally would give to a young clerk, that can frustrate aspiring lawyers’ efforts to get a foot in the door.
Whether youth unemployment starts to recover from here could depend on where the wider economy heads next, Valencia said.
Coordinated action needed to support youth employment
As the economy continues to strain under the weight of U.S. tariffs and broader trade uncertainty, surveys from the Bank of Canada show businesses are reining in their hiring intentions.
Valencia said such shifts tend to have a pronounced effect on youth, who are often first to feel an economic contraction in their job prospects. He said if Canada secures a new trade deal with the United States in the coming months, or if Ottawa finds other ways to restore certainty and encourage business investment, that could open up opportunities for youth again.
Construction employment on Long Island saw another year-over-year drop in May, the fifth straight month of declines, according to a new report from the Associated General Contractors of America.
Nassau and Suffolk counties lost 3,400 construction jobs from July 2024 to July 2025, a 4 percent year-over-year decline, falling from 84,300 to 80,900, the AGCA reports.
Regionally, the number of construction jobs in New York City was down 1 percent, losing 2,000 jobs from July 2024 to July 2025, falling from 145,300 to 143,300.
Nationally, construction employment rose in 184 of 360 metro areas between July 2024 and July 2025, while it declined in 120 metro areas and was unchanged in 56 areas, according to AGCA and new government employment data.
Association officials said a survey of their members to be released on Thursday shows many contractors want to hire more workers but cannot find enough applicants with adequate training or credentials.
“Construction employment has stalled or retreated in many areas for a variety of reasons,” Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, said in an AGCA statement. “But contractors report they would hire more people if only they could find more qualified and willing workers and tougher immigration enforcement wasn’t disrupting labor supplies.”
Metro areas adding the most construction jobs over the last year include the
Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, Va. Area, which added 7,900 jobs for a 9 percent increase; followed by the Houston area, which added 6,600 jobs for a 3 percent gain; and the Cincinnati, Ohio area gaining 5,100 jobs for a 9 percent rise.
The metro areas seeing the largest drops in construction employment from July 2024 to July 2025 include the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. area which lost 7,200 jobs for a 6 percent drop; the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. area dropping 6,200 jobs for a 6 percent decline; and the Baton Rouge, La. area, which was down 3,900 jobs in an 8 percent decline.
NEW YORK, July 17, 2025 (Newswire.com)
– As cap-and-gown celebrations wind down, a new challenge looms for the class of 2025: a job market that’s tougher than any seen in recent memory. According to the Federal Reserve, unemployment for recent graduates has outpaced the national average for the first time since 1980, with entry-level hiring freezes, AI automation, and economic uncertainty reshaping the traditional path from college to career.
“Many of today’s entry-level roles are disappearing before new grads even have a chance to compete,” said Pamela Skillings, co-founder and chief coach at Big Interview, a job training platform used by hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide. “But that doesn’t mean opportunity is gone-it just means students need to be better prepared, more adaptable, and more strategic in how they present themselves.”
Recent research confirms this, with a 2024 McKinsey report estimating 44% of global job tasks could be automated, with white-collar entry-level roles among the most affected. A LinkedIn survey of executives found that 63% believe AI will replace many entry-level tasks, altering job expectations for new hires.
Skillings, who has coached thousands of job seekers through economic downturns, sees a shift in what employers are hiring for: adaptability, clarity of communication, and the ability to think critically in fast-changing environments.
“AI may have changed the market, but it hasn’t changed what makes people hirable,” she said. “Hiring managers still want to hear your story, understand your strengths, and see how you solve problems. The graduates who learn to communicate that clearly will stand out – even in a flooded market.”
According to Skillings, the students who fare best aren’t always the ones with perfect résumés or the most experience; they’re the ones who know how to position themselves, speak clearly about their strengths, and demonstrate problem-solving skills in real time.
She also stresses that AI isn’t just changing who gets hired, it’s also changing how hiring happens. “AI is already baked into how companies operate, how they review resumes, and how they conduct interviews,” she said. “That means new grads need to learn how to collaborate with AI, not fear it.”
Skillings encourages graduates to take small, strategic steps-even in the face of an overwhelming market. “Pick one thing you can do this week to move forward,” she said. “Sign up for a free AI course. Rework your résumé with a clear story. Explore a career path AI can’t replace. This isn’t just about getting a job-it’s about finding your place in a workforce that’s evolving fast.”
About Pamela Skillings: Pamela Skillings is a nationally recognized career coach and co-founder of Big Interview. A former professor at NYU and former corporate VP, she has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and CNN. She is also the author of Escape from Corporate America and Job Interviewing for Dummies (2024 edition).
About Big Interview: Big Interview is a premier AI-driven job interview training platform with partners including more than 700 higher education institutions, government workforce agencies and businesses, as well as individual clients.
We prepare individuals for all aspects of the interview process with a vast library of video lessons and practice interviews, available in both English and Spanish, tailored to 1100+ job roles. Big Interview also provides real-time AI-powered feedback and personalized coaching to help users refine their skills. On average, Big Interview users secure employment in 4.4 weeks, compared to the national average of 23 weeks.
How many times have you heard your child say, “I’m bored”? OK, not you saying it in your head… your child whining it while they pick at a thread on their shirt. This said kid is also probably surrounded with toys, books, games and more (ahhh, to be bored like a kid!). So, here are 5 responses to your child saying “I’m bored”.
“Figure it out.” I mean, seriously – when did we become responsible for entertaining our kids 24/7?! Truth is, when your kids are bored, it’s pretty amazing how creative they will get to find their own ways of keeping busy. Just keep an eye on them – the mischievous ones might get into trouble.
“Go outside.” I really don’t think kids spend as much time outdoors as we did as kids (I remember practically living outside from sun up to sun down). We’ve all got the gear for winter or summer play, so send them out for some fresh air.
“Make something.” In our house we call it a “craft challenge” where we rummage through the recycling bin, or pull out random craft supplies, and we challenge each other to create something. It’s quite cool to see what your kids come up with.
“Read something.” We have a very accessible well-stocked bookshelf that the bean keeps very organized to make book-finding easy. We also subscribe to a number of magazines, and I have other “books” around like word searches and hidden pictures.
“Do something for someone else.” Whether it’s helping mom and dad with a household to-do, writing a letter to a long-distance family member, shoveling the neighbour’s walkway, there’s always a way to help someone else (and keep your child occupied too).
NEW YORK — The retirement wave is about to hit. A whopping four million Americans are expected to turn 65 every year for the next four years, and that can mean opportunity if you’re in the job market.
This wave of retirements will have ripple effects across the economy, and a big part of what’s at play here is demographics.
The Alliance for Lifetime Income found that 11,200 Americans will turn 65 every day through 2027.
That’s a record number, up from 10,000 per day over the past decade.
Some economists are calling it “Peak 65.”
Of course, not everyone who turns 65 retires right away. We know many households are working for longer as the cost of living has gone up.
But the big picture is there are more older Americans leaving the workforce than there are younger workers, like recent high school or college grads, getting in.
People who are on the job hunt might find that they have more options.
Right now, employers nationwide have posted a total of 8 million jobs they’re trying to fill, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That number of job postings is actually higher than the number of people who are looking for work, and it could stay that way for the next couple of years.
The other important dynamic for workers is this could help boost their salaries. If employers are competing to fill open jobs, they might offer to pay higher wages.
One industry that will be especially hit as baby boomers retire is health care; think doctors, nurses, and home aides.
Almost one out of every four health care workers is over the age of 55, so as those workers retire, their jobs will need to be filled.
Plus, our aging population means there will be more people who need critical health care services.
Other industries that have a big share of older workers are government and education.
This is a time for younger workers to think about how to maximize their opportunities and earnings in their careers.
The biggest share of workers under the age of 40 is in retail and hospitality. They might want to consider how their skills from those jobs can translate into more in-demand industries like health care in this changing workforce.
Editor’s note:The share of the U.S. population older than 65 keeps rising – and will for decades to come. Since nearly half of Americans over 65 will pay for some version of long-term health care, CNHI News and The Associated Press examined the state of long-term care in the series High Cost of Long-Term Care, which began Friday and continues this week.
While many Americans will need long-term care as they get older, few are prepared to pay for it.
Medicare, which provides Americans over the age 65 with health insurance, doesn’t cover most long-term care services. And Medicaid — the primary safety net for long-term care coverage — only covers those who are indigent.
Federal estimates suggest 70% of people ages 65 and older will need long-term care before they die, but only 3% to 4% of Americans age 50 and older are paying for long-term care policies, according to insurance industry figures.
The high cost of premiums for those private long-term care policies puts it out of reach for most people.
Even some who have this kind of insurance find it doesn’t provide enough to cover the costs of home health aides, assisted-living facilities or nursing homes.
“People think that long-term care insurance is for everyone — but it is not,” said Jessie Slone, executive director of the American Association for Long-term Care Insurance, an advocacy group. “It’s for a very small subset of individuals who plan, and have some retirement assets and income they can use to pay for it.”
To qualify, applicants need to pass a health review. Slone said insurance companies have underwriting policies with “page after page” of conditions that will disqualify people from getting that coverage.”If you live a long life, the chances of you needing care are significant. So then the issue becomes who’s going to provide for that care, and who’s going to pay for it. For some, long-term care insurance is an option.”
Prices vary, based on the age when people apply, how good their health is at the time, and how much coverage they want. “You have to start looking at this generally in your 50s or 60s,” Slone said. “Because, as you get older, you’re going to have conditions which insurers are going to look at, determine that you’re very likely to need long-term care and not give you a policy.”
That coverage, if you can get it, doesn’t come cheap: In 2023, the annual average cost for a policy for a couple both age 55, taking out a $165,000 initial pool growing at 3% compounded annually — ranged from a low of $5,018 to $14,695 a year, according to the association.
But, compared to auto insurance — which most people may never use — long-term care insurance is a good investment for those who can afford it, Slone said. “Car insurance is the most expensive insurance you ever pay because the chances of you getting into a car accident are somewhat remote. But the chances of someone needing long-term care if they make it to 90 are pretty significant.”
Lori Smetanka, executive director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, a national nonprofit advocacy group, views it differently. She said the private long-term care insurance system has become a “bust” amid rising premiums and difficulties accessing benefits.
Consider the fact that the number of companies offering long-term care insurance is declining, while payouts are steadily increasing as the baby boomer generation ages.”Most people have found it very expensive,” Smetanka said. “But, at the same time, people are finding that it wasn’t covering what they needed.”
Last year, insurers paid a record of more than $14 billion to cover an estimated 353,000 long-term care claims, according to industry figures. That’s compared to about $11.6 billion just three years ago.
Currently, there are about 7.5 million people in the U.S. age 65 and older with private long-term care insurance, according to industry data.
With that incentive, some states, including Washington and California, are looking at creating long-term care social insurance pools funded by payroll taxes and other sources of funding. The effort also is being spurred, in part, by the rising costs borne by states for Medicaid long-term care coverage, which they share with the federal government.
“More and more states are coming to the conclusion that this is an under-funded system,” said Marc Cohen, a researcher and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. “There are simply not enough dollars going into the system – given the needs and the demands of the growing elderly population.”
So far, Washington is the only state to try to address the issue. A law approved by the state Legislature in 2019 created a long-term care benefit program, which provides residents with up to $36,500 to pay for costs such as caregiving, wheelchair ramps, meal deliveries and nursing home fees.
The Cares Funds is covered by a payroll tax that deducts 0.58% out of paychecks but guarantees a $36,500 lifetime benefit for those who have paid into the fund for 10 years.
Several other states are studying the issue. In California, a task force is looking at how to design a long-term care program, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Massachusetts, Illinois and Michigan also are weighing the costs versus benefits of creating a state long-term care benefits program.
But the issue of imposing new taxes to pay for long-term care insurance is controversial — and politically unpopular — on both a state and federal level.
Washington’s long-term care insurance law is facing a repeal effort from a group backed by hedge fund executive Brian Heywood that argues the system should be voluntary. Voters in November will decide whether to allow people to opt out, which supporters say would essentially gut the program.
“There are a lot of states that are looking to see what happens in Washington,” Cohen said. “If this billionaire who is funding this repeal effort wins, it will be a real blow.”
Cohen said efforts on a federal level to create a publicly funded insurance pool haven’t gained much traction. A long-term care program created by Congress through the CLASS Plan, which was tied to the Affordable Care Act, was voluntary. That law was repealed in early 2013.
“It never got off the ground before it was repealed,” he said. “With the dysfunction in Congress, we’re likely to see more action on a state level than the federal.”
Recent polls suggest there may be some public support for the move. A survey by the National Council on Aging found more than 90% of the 1,000 female respondents across party lines support the idea of creating a government program to pay for the cost of long-term care.
“The level of support was significant, and very bipartisan,” said Howard Bedlin, a long-term care expert with the council. “People keep talking about how Congress can’t find bipartisan support. Well, the voters clearly support it.
“The politicians just aren’t giving these issues the attention they deserve.”
Christian M. Wade is a reporter for North of Boston Media Group.
BOSTON — Lawmakers are seeking more support for the state’s safety net hospitals amid rising concerns about the fiscal health of a fund that helps cover medical costs for large numbers of uninsured and low-income patients.
Hospitals and health insurers pay into the so-called safety net fund – a pool of money that helps fund care for hundreds of thousands of low-income residents who are uninsured or underinsured – with the state chipping in additional funding. But if the fund runs low, hospitals are on the hook for the shortfall.
The fund is projected to have a shortfall of more than $220 million in the upcoming fiscal year, hospitals say, rising to the highest level in nearly two decades.
Without additional funding, financially challenged hospitals will be forced to cover the deficit, leaving less money to provide medical care for low-income and uninsured patients, they say.
An amendment to the Senate’s version of the $57.9 billion state budget filed by Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, would require commercial health insurance companies to cover 50% of any revenue shortfalls in the safety net fund.
“We need to do something to help our local hospitals,” Finegold said. “This is part of a long-term problem with funding for hospitals that serve the state’s most vulnerable residents. We need to fix it.”
Many earmarks
Finegold’s proposal is one of more than 1,000 amendments to the Senate’s budget, many of them local earmarks seeking to divert more state money to local governments, schools, cash-strapped community groups and nonprofits. Only a handful will likely make it into the Senate’s final spending package.
The plan faces pushback from the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, which represents commercial insurers who would be impacted by the proposed changes to the hospital safety net program.
Lora Pellegrini, the group’s president and CEO, said requiring insurers to cover the fund’s shortfalls would jeopardize negotiations between the state Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that seek to reduce assessments paid by medical insurance carriers.
“This really came out of nowhere, and would be counterproductive to those efforts,” she said. “We have a committee process for a reason and that’s where these kinds of special interest issues should be vetted, not in the budget.”
But the move is backed by the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, which says requiring insurers to cover the shortfall would help alleviate an “unmanageable financial burden” on the health care system “by broadening funding support for the program.”
“The Health Safety Net is a vital component of Massachusetts’ healthcare infrastructure and its ability to cover the costs of care for low-income and uninsured patients,” Daniel McHale, MHP’s vice president for Healthcare Finance & Policy, said in a statement.
“At this increasingly fragile time for the entire health care system, it is imperative that we take the steps needed to stabilize the safety net for the people and providers who rely on it each day.”
Local hospitals affected
The state’s safety net hospitals and community health centers – which include Lawrence Hospital, Salem Hospital, Holy Family Hospital in Methuen and Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport – serve a disproportionate percentage of low-income patients.
Many are heavily dependent on Medicaid reimbursements, which are typically less than commercial insurance payouts.
Nearly 30% of Lawrence General’s gross revenue is for care provided to Medicaid, or MassHealth, patients. The state average is 18%.
Many community hospitals are collecting from low-paying government insurance programs, and getting below-average reimbursements from commercial insurers, advocates say.
Lawmakers also swept money from the hospital safety net fund to help cover the costs of new Medicare savings programs that pay some or all of eligible senior citizen’s premiums and other health care costs, including prescriptions.
Hospitals are also seeing increased demand from uninsured patients as hundreds of thousands of Medicaid recipients see their state-sponsored health care coverage dropped following the end of federal pandemic-related programs, which is driving up costs. Claims processing problems are another factor adding to hospital costs, they say.
Those and other factors have widened the fund’s shortfall from $68 million in fiscal 2022 to more than $210 million in the previous fiscal year, according to the hospital association. Combined, the shortfall could reach $600 million for the three fiscal years, the association said.
Biggest expense
The House, which approved its $58.2 billion version of the state budget two weeks ago, proposed $17.3 million in state funding for the hospital safety net fund. The Senate, which begins debate on its version of the budget next week, has proposed a similar amount.
In the current budget, the state allocated $91.4 million for the safety net fund.
But the House budget didn’t include an amendment requiring insurers to help hospitals pay the shortfall. That means even if the Senate approves Finegold’s amendment, it would still need to be negotiated as part of the final budget before landing on Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for consideration.
Health care coverage, in the meantime, is one of the state’s biggest expenses. Medicaid costs have doubled in the past decade and now account for nearly 40% of state spending.
MassHealth serves more than 2 million people – roughly one-third of the state’s population – despite federal Medicaid redeterminations that have reduced its rolls over the past year.
(Editor’s note: Executive sports editor Bill Burt wrote this piece about a Lawrence legend back in 2010. One of the greatest athletes ever produced by the famed city, ended up going to Phillips Andover, Yale University before being signed by the N.Y. Yankees. While he had success with the champs, he had other issues off the field that he never was able to overcome. He died 39 years ago on May 16 as a recluse. Check out the story, a sad one, here.)
Johnny Broaca was the American Dream. Better yet, he was Lawrence’s American Dream.
The son of Lithuanian immigrants, Broaca grew up in a tenement apartment and went on to become one of the greatest athletes ever to come out of Lawrence High.
From there, it was two years at Phillips Andover, and then on to Yale University. He aced his studies at two of the nation’s premiere educational institutions, but it was baseball that put him on the national map.
The New York Yankees signed Broaca, a star pitcher, in 1933, before he had even graduated from Yale. The same Yankees that boasted future Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey and Tommy Henrich.
Broaca’s second major league start was a complete game three-hitter. His third start was a complete game one-hitter.
A month into his major league career, he was 4-1 for the World Series favorites.
Soon, he would have a beautiful wife, and then a son.
Lawrence couldn’t have been prouder of one of its own.
It seemed Broaca had it all.
Yankees manager Joe McCarthy, usually careful when it came to praising young players, told baseball writers that Broaca was “a promising youngster whom nothing can stop.”
But stop he did.
Within three years, Broaca mysteriously walked out on the Yankees and eventually lost everything, including his contract, his wife, his son, and his passion for life.
“My dad said he just gave up,” said Madeline Varitimos of Methuen, Broaca’s niece, her eyes watering a bit. “My father spoke very little about Johnny. It’s sad. Still, all these years later, it’s very sad.”
Broaca attempted a comeback with the Cleveland Indians 18 months after going AWOL on the Yankees in 1937, but it was derailed by arm troubles.
He eventually moved back to Lawrence, and for the next 45 or so years lived alone in an apartment on Garden Street, working mostly as a union laborer.
Twenty-five years ago today, Broaca was found dead of a heart attack on the floor of his apartment. He was 75 years old.
He was alone.
So what happened to this living legend?
Did he have a breakdown? Was it a sore arm that sent him over the top? Or was it his marital problems?
Why didn’t Broaca pursue his second dream of becoming a teacher and coach? And why didn’t he ever try to contact his only son, who grew up 25 miles away?
Nobody knows, because Broaca took his reasons to his grave at Immaculate Conception cemetery in Methuen.
“When my father and I went to his apartment after he died, he had only two small pictures near his bed,” the 73-year-old Varitimos said. “One was Walter Winchell. The other was Howard Hughes. Both of them were recluses … It was a little strange.”
Neil A. Hawley Staff Photographer
A baseball prodigy
When Broaca was a boy, his family lived in an eight-family tenement in the Italian section of Lawrence on Middle Street.
Johnny was the second of three children. He had an older sister, Constance, and a younger brother, Victor — Varitimos’ father.
His father, John J. Broaca, worked in the paper mills in Lawrence, while his mother, Anna, tended to the family.
As Broaca told Boys’ Life magazine in a lengthy 1935 interview, baseball was a focal point of his life in Lawrence.
“I played (baseball) all of the time in my leisure and a lot at times when I should have been doing something else,” he said.
Broaca said in 1921, he saw an article in Boys’ Life magazine about the mechanics of pitching.
“I think it must have been about February or March, when we were all thinking about baseball but couldn’t play,” recalled Broaca. “I went to the reading room of the YMCA and picked up a pretty well-thumbed copy of Boys’ Life. One of the first things I turned to was an article about how to pitch … What interested me most were the diagrams.
“I studied that article harder than I studied any school lessons and practiced the grips on the baseball, along with the proper stance and form in front of the mirror.
“As soon as the snow got off the ground, I found a boy with a catcher’s mitt. And I began to practice in earnest.”
When Broaca got to Lawrence High, baseball was only part of his impressive resume. He not only was a straight-A student, he starred in four sports at the varsity level — football, basketball, baseball and track.
He was only the second athlete in school history to letter in four sports en route to winning the Cregg Medal as the school’s outstanding student-athlete in 1928.
“He could have been a great football player or a great basketball player, if that’s what he focused on,” said 87-year-old Sam Musumeci of Methuen, who grew up idolizing Broaca. “But baseball was his life.”
After Lawrence High, Broaca spent two prep years at Phillips Andover.
He ended his career there on a high of highs, beating rival Phillips Exeter in the final game of the year behind a brilliant 12-strikeout performance.
Neil A. Hawley Staff Photographer
First signs of trouble
Broaca chose to attend Yale University on a partial scholarship in the fall of 1930. Part of that was due to the fact that he would be playing for ex-Red Sox pitcher Smokey Joe Woods.
It appeared to be a dream come true, but Broaca struggled for the first time in his young life. And it had little or nothing to do with baseball.
His family was poor compared to those of his classmates, which meant he had to work a regular job as a waiter at a Yale fraternity to help pay for school. That alienated him from many of his teammates and classmates.
Broaca’s father would send money when he could, which wasn’t often. His mother would go down to the train station in Lawrence and send a care package that included homemade rye bread and $2.
Baseball at Yale wasn’t a problem. He was the ace of the staff each of the three years he pitched there. In 1932, he struck out a then-school record 13 batters in a win over rival Columbia.
But he also started having arm problems, which didn’t put him in good stead with his famous coach.
In early April 1933, Broaca’s junior season, he was suspended by Wood because he didn’t show up for practice for a week. Later in the month, he complained about pain in his back and arm. Wood still wanted him to pitch.
So Broaca quit the baseball team at Yale and called famed Yankees scout Paul Kritchell, who signed Broaca to a contract a few days later.
Broaca was immediately farmed out to their top minor league affiliate in the International League, the Newark Bears, where he was allowed to rest his arm for a few weeks. He eventually pitched and finished with a 7-2 record.
He returned to Yale in the fall of 1933, after the baseball season, to finish his coursework. He graduated on time in 1934 and said leaving Yale early was a blessing in disguise.
Broaca joined the big club, the Yankees, after he was done at Yale in May.
His dream of pitching in the big leagues was about to come true.
Courtesy photo. Johnny Broaca Courtesy photo. Johnny Broaca
Staff Photographer
Disappearing act
Broaca’s first career start, on June 2, 1934, was one of his worst. He allowed five runs and five hits, unable to get the Philadelphia Athletics out in the second inning before being yanked.
In his second start a week later, he allowed just three hits in a 4-2 complete game loss. In his third start, he made national headlines, striking out 10 St. Louis Browns and allowing only one hit over nine innings.
“It was one of the proudest days of my life,” recalled Musumeci of Broaca’s big day. “I was 11 years old. He made all of us proud to be from Lawrence.”
Broaca earned a regular spot in the famed Yankees rotation, which included future Hall of Famers Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing. He finished his rookie season at 12-9.
In 1935, the Yankees were favorites to win the World Series, but finished second to the Detroit Tigers in the American League. Broaca, though, did his part, finishing at 15-7.
It was much the same in 1936, when he finished 12-7 and was among the top 10 in the majors in won-lost percentage (.632), earned run average (4.24) and fewest walks per nine innings (1.2).
This time, the Yankees won the World Series, beating the New York Giants in six games. Broaca was available in relief, but never saw any action in the fall classic.
But that was OK, because a few weeks after the season ended, Broaca married Cordelia Ireland, 22, of Orleans, Mass. The two had met during the summers when Broaca was at Yale and pitched in the famed Cape Cod League.
Armed with a World Series ring and a new wife, with their first child on the way, Broaca was supposed to be entering a new era of his life.
But 1937 proved to be his undoing. He got into arguments with McCarthy over his workout regimen, and his arm was in constant pain.
After a great first start in which he allowed six hits and one unearned run against the Athletics in late April, he didn’t win another game. Again, arm pain kept him off the mound — he was 1-4, pitching only 44 innings.
His Yankees career came to a head on July 16 in Detroit. McCarthy brought a disgruntled Broaca in to pitch in the eighth inning with the Yankees trailing 9-5.
Broaca finished the game, but not before allowing two homers, a triple, two doubles and a single, leading to five more Tigers runs.
He joined the team on the trip to Cleveland after the game. But he never showed up at the park the next day.
Broaca made history, becoming the first Yankee to “jump the club” in Jacob Ruppert’s tenure as the team owner (he bought the team in 1914).
McCarthy didn’t hide his anger from the press corps.
“This might cost him a share of his World Series cut?” a reporter asked McCarthy.
“Might?” said McCarthy. “He’s lost that already.”
Neil A. Hawley Staff Photographer
A public spectacle
In news stories about Broaca’s disappearance, reporters weren’t afraid to throw some subjective color into their copy, calling Broaca “moody and aloof” and saying, “He has few friends.”
Days went by, and the Yankees had no answers as to Broaca’s whereabouts.
Worse, his wife of less than a year, who was eight months pregnant when he left the Yankees, claimed she hadn’t heard from him either.
Two months later, a newspaper account said Cordelia Broaca had filed for divorce, citing cruel and unusual punishment. Their son, John Jr., was just 5 weeks old at the time.
Out of money, she had to leave their home, and she and her son moved in with her mother.
The Yankees, who won the World Series again in 1937, showed their agitation with Broaca by voting a $1,000 World Series share to his wife.
“It was the right thing to do,” McCarthy said. “That’s no way to treat your wife.”
Broaca eventually resurfaced, but things only got worse from there.
The divorce proceeding became a public spectacle on Cape Cod. According to the New York Mirror, Cordelia Broaca claimed her husband began “beating” her a month into their marriage. She said her husband was “cheap” and would have fits of rage, many times over her spending.
She said one evening her husband chased her out of the house to a potato field in her underwear, where neighbors heard her screaming before finding her shivering.
Perhaps the most telling comment attributed to Broaca came during the deposition, before the divorce trial.
Cordelia Broaca said her husband told her, “(I’d) rather cut my throat or put a bullet in my head” before giving his ex-wife a penny.
A career cut short
A former heavyweight champ at Yale, Broaca tried professional boxing when he was out of baseball in 1938. But his boxing career never really got off the ground.
That was also the year that Broaca lost his father, whom he had hoped to repay for all of his help getting him through college.
Later in 1938, the Yankees made overtures about bringing Broaca back. But he wanted the Yankees to reimburse him for medical expenses and questioned their treatment of his arm.
When he was reinstated by the commissioner after the 1938 season, it was clear his next baseball home would be elsewhere. He hoped the Yankees would deal him to the Red Sox. Instead, they sold him to the Indians.
Other than the fact that Broaca got to play with a baseball legend, 20-year-old pitcher Bob Feller, the 1939 season didn’t live up to its billing. Broaca was primarily a reliever, pitching only 46 innings over 22 outings. The Indians finished 87-67, 24 games behind the Yankees.
“I remember Johnny had those heavy lenses on his glasses,” Feller recently recalled of Broaca. “We had a few laughs together. He was a little bit strange, a little weird at times, hard to figure. He sort of kept to himself.”
Broaca was sold to the New York Giants at the beginning of the 1940 season, but never pitched in a game for them and was released two months later.
His baseball career over, he moved back to his native Lawrence, and all of the controversy stopped.
Upon his return, he is believed to have worked at Tyer Rubber in Andover as warehouse worker.
Then in January 1943, he was drafted by the U.S. Army during World War II and sent to Fort Devens and later Camp Beale in Sacramento, Calif. He never served overseas, probably because of his age (33) and his poor eyesight. He was honorably discharged on Sept. 24, 1945.
He again returned to Lawrence, where for the next 40 years he basically lived the life of a recluse.
Always alone
Tony Fusco said it happened two or three times a day on this particular job site.
Broaca, then about 50 years old, would stop digging a trench. He’d stand up straight, adjust his glasses, and lean on the top of his shovel with one arm. And then he’d just stare off into the sky.
“It would always last about 45 seconds to a minute. Then he would just go back to work,” recalled Fusco, then a teenager working summers for the Laborers Union Local 175. “I always wondered what he was daydreaming about. I wondered if he was thinking back about a baseball game.”
Broaca joined Local 175 in 1949, and was a member until his death in 1985. His job was helping with the grunt work on job sites — moving or setting bricks for the bricklayers, mixing mortar, cleaning up work areas, landscaping or digging trenches.
There was an unwritten rule among the union guys of Local 175. Don’t ask Broaca about baseball.
“You just didn’t ask,” Fusco said. “It would never come up. I can’t explain it. But everyone respected Johnny enough to leave him alone.”
One thing Broaca was famous for over the last four decades of his life was walking.
While he owned a Hudson to get him around to jobs that were more than a few miles away, he would walk everywhere in the city. Almost everybody who lived near downtown Lawrence had a story about seeing him out for a stroll. And he was always alone.
“I can’t tell you how many times I saw Johnny carrying groceries on Essex Street or walking down Union Street,” Musumeci said.
Broaca also made it a point to watch youth baseball and adult softball games in the city, particularly at Hayden-Schofield on Lawrence Street.
“He would always stand in the same spot,” said Varitimos, his niece. “It was over the third base side of the stands. He would just sit there quietly and watch. He would always be alone.”
When Broaca died, it was Varitimos and her father who went to clean out his apartment.
“We were hoping he had lots of baseball memorabilia, things he might have saved from his baseball career,” Varitimos said. “But there was nothing. The walls were empty. He didn’t save anything.”
Varitimos said they did find a neatly stacked pile of cashed checks to Broaca’s former wife. He saved all of the support payments he made.
They also found a pile of opened envelopes.
“He had a lot of letters from fans who sent him baseball cards to sign,” Varitimos said. “Unfortunately, he left them in a big pile and probably didn’t send any back, which is too bad, considering most of them were probably from kids.”
Neil A. Hawley Staff Photographer
‘He quit on life’
It was a phone call Varitimos dreaded, but knew she had to make.
It was a few days after Broaca’s funeral. She called Broaca’s son, Peter, in Western Massachusetts to inform him of his father’s death.
“He was sort of like, ‘What do you want from me?,’” recalled Varitimos. “I told him that we thought he’d want to know and that there were some things that he might want to have, like the (1936) World Series ring. He also had some money in the bank and some stocks.”
Peter came to Methuen, had dinner with the family, and tried to soak it all in. He took the World Series ring, which usually remains in a safe deposit box.
“It was a little strange,” Peter Broaca said. “The fact is, he never tried to get a hold of me. I only lived in Boston, the South End. Maybe at some point I could have reached out to him. It just never happened.”
Peter, now 72, said there were times when he was growing up that he would ask his mother about his once-famous father.
“To be honest, it wasn’t discussed too much,” he said.
John J Broaca
Staff Photographer
Peter said his mom remarried when he was in the third grade. The family eventually moved to Boston so his stepfather could find work.
Even though he never knew his father, in some ways, Peter was a chip off the old block.
He is almost the same exact size his dad was — 5 feet 11 inches tall and 180 pounds. He also played baseball and was a practice player for the basketball team at Boston University.
One of Peter’s first jobs was as the associate head coach/freshman coach at the University of Massachusetts, where he coached Julius Erving, Rick Pitino and Al Skinner.
He went on to become a successful Division 3 men’s basketball head coach, putting in 24 years between Coast Guard Academy and Western New England College. For the last 12 years, he’s been an assistant at Springfield College, also teaching physical education at an alternative middle school in Holyoke. In 2009, he was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
Peter is divorced and the father of two daughters. They never met their grandfather.
“It’s sad. I don’t know what to say other than that,” Peter said.
That sentiment is echoed by others who knew Johnny Broaca.
“He could have done some great things with his life, but he chose not to,” his niece, Varitimos, said. “I can’t really understand that.”
Neither can the 87-year-old Musumeci, who tears up when he talks about his former idol.
“Johnny was the best teacher of baseball that I ever had,” he said. “He taught me how to pitch. I remember clearly he told me to never quit. When things are tough, you have to hang in there.
“Why am I upset? Because Johnny Broaca quit on life. And that makes me very mad.”
Angie Beaulieu/Staff photo. Gravestone of John P. and Anna C. Broaca, parents of John J. Broaca. 05/12/10 Angie Beaulieu/Staff photo. Gravestone of John P. and Anna C. Broaca, parents of John J. Broaca. 05/12/10
