[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-584816-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-584816-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","seeking-work-in-southern-new-jersey-october-2022-workforce-barriers-and-opportunities-during-the-covid-19-pandemic","Seeking Work in Southern New Jersey - October 2022 - Workforce Barriers and Opportunities during the COVID-19 Pandemic","","Seeking Work in Southern New Jersey examines how workforce barriers and opportunities affect both job seekers and employers in Southern New Jersey and the City of Camden during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report defines the study region, describes the research partners and approach, and sets out the core questions behind employment outreach, job posting, and recruitment practices. It combines focus groups, interviews, and labor force data to reveal themes of opportunity, flexibility, and access.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/seeking-work-in-southern-new-jersey-october-2022-workforce-barriers-and-opportunities-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/584816/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/seeking-work-in-southern-new-jersey-october-2022-workforce-barriers-and-opportunities-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/584816.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Sophia Brooks","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-05","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the main purpose of the report Seeking Work in Southern New Jersey?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It explores the barriers and opportunities job seekers and employers face in Southern New Jersey and the City of Camden during the COVID-19 pandemic, and explains challenges in connecting residents to available jobs.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did the researchers collect and analyze data?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The study combined qualitative input from focus groups and interviews with current labor force data, then conducted data analysis to identify workforce trends and regional barriers across eight counties.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What key themes emerged from the findings?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The report highlights opportunity, flexibility, and access as recurring themes in how both job seekers and employers responded through the pandemic.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},584816,1792055199,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962084925636,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","SEEKING WORK IN  \nSOUTHERN NEW JERSEY  \nWhat job seekers and employers in Southern New Jersey and the City of Camden see as workforce barriersand opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic  \nOctober 2022  \nA Rowan University/Rutgers-Camden Board of Governors Initiative  \nIn Partnership With  \nInside front cover Intentionally left blank  \nTABLE OF CONTENTS  \n01 Introduction  \n03 COVID-19 Context and Impact  \n04 Background on Mismatch Between Employers and Employees  \n12 Data Collection and Methods (Overview and Detailed)  \n13 Focus Groups  \n14 Interviews  \n15 Data Analysis  \n17 Findings—Barriers and Opportunities  \n17 Interviews with Southern New Jersey and City of Camden Job Seekers  \n35 Focus Groups with Southern New Jersey and City of Camden Employers  \n55 Bridging the Gap: Connecting Job Seekers and Employers  \n58 Recommendations & Looking Forward  \n61 References  \n65 ProjectTeam  \n66 About  \nBlank behindTOC Intentionally left blank  \nINTRODUCTION  \nIn 2020, the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs (WRI) at Rutgers University-Camden, in contract with the Rowan University / Rutgers - Camden Board of Governors, partnered with Camden Community Partnership and the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University for a project aimed at better understanding the barriers that both employers and job seekers face.  \nThe Rowan University / Rutgers – Camden Board of Governors serves asthe funder and purveyor of projects and programs that contribute to vibrant educational institutions and communities that will attract business to the state of New Jersey. Camden Community Partnership (formerly Cooper’s Ferry Partnership) is a private, non-profit corporation dedicated to planning and implementing high-quality urban redevelopment projects to revitalize the City of Camden. The Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs is an evaluation and research center at Rutgers University - Camden, and conducted research design, participant recruitment, synthesis of secondary data, data collection, and data analysis for this project. The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University is a university-based organization devoted to transforming the workforce development system at the local, state, and federal levels and participated in data collection and analysis.  \nThe project, Seeking Work in Southern New Jersey, set out to explore the economic landscape, identify barriers and opportunities to finding and securing a job, and outline challenges to connections between job seekers and employers in Southern New Jersey and the City of Camden.  \nSouthern New Jersey, while it bears no official definition, is a regional term that comprises the geography and culture of the eight counties that sit atthe southern part of New Jersey-including Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem Counties. Project partners serve the communities and residents of these counties, and focus the report on opportunities and barriers across these counties. The project funder and multiple partners’ home base in the City of Camden also distinguishes the City as a separate entity for data collection included in this report.  \nThe project’s goal was to illuminate the story behind traditional economic numbers - to explore the perspectives of job seekers and employers in Southern New Jersey and the City of Camden. We know what the labor force participation rate and unemployment rate are - but how can we understand for what reason an applicant is not hearing back from a local employer? How can we understand where employers are posting job positions, and how they recruit employees? Questions like these are where this report provides context.  \nResearchers conducted a series of focus groups and individual conversations with both employers and job seekers, and captured the experiences, challenges, and opportunities posed by individuals both seeking and filling jobs in a pre-and-post pandem","cbCaifOFUg8rm0rN","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifOFUg8rm0rN","pdf",8005138,74,"English","# Introduction\n## COVID-19 Context and Impact\n## Background on Mismatch Between Employers and Employees\n## Data Collection and Methods (Overview and Detailed)\n## Focus Groups\n## Interviews\n## Data Analysis\n## Findings—Barriers and Opportunities\n## Bridging the Gap: Connecting Job Seekers and Employers\n## Recommendations & Looking Forward\n## References","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of the report Seeking Work in Southern New Jersey?\",\"answer\":\"It explores the barriers and opportunities job seekers and employers face in Southern New Jersey and the City of Camden during the COVID-19 pandemic, and explains challenges in connecting residents to available jobs.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the researchers collect and analyze data?\",\"answer\":\"The study combined qualitative input from focus groups and interviews with current labor force data, then conducted data analysis to identify workforce trends and regional barriers across eight counties.\"},{\"question\":\"What key themes emerged from the findings?\",\"answer\":\"The report highlights opportunity, flexibility, and access as recurring themes in how both job seekers and employers responded through the pandemic.\"}]","Seeking Work in Southern New Jersey - October 2022 - Workforce Barriers and Opportunities during the COVID-19 Pandemic | PDF",1792052485,186]