Changing Employment Trends for Men

Where did all the guys in the office go?

American women now hold 176,000 more payroll jobs than American

men. That's a far cry from three decades ago

when men held nearly seven million

more jobs than women. What changed?

The largely male-dominated industries of manufacturing and construction have lost

employment for decades due to automation and offshoring.

Meanwhile, the healthcare industry, which is 78% female, is

thriving. The male unemployment rate is actually relatively low right now,

but the

number of men who aren't even looking for a job has reached a nearly 20-year

high. Gen Z men grew up witnessing the effects

of the Great Recession and corporate

America's push to bring more women into male-dominated fields.

That left many of them feeling pessimistic about their own employment prospects.

So for the guys who aren't working or even looking for work, what

are they up to?

Many are living at home. Some are even embracing the trend of being a

stay-at-home

boyfriend with a breadwinning girlfriend.

This is all while more and more of life is happening through a screen: social

media, video gaming, sports betting, further isolating men from real

life. But we can fix this. We can encourage more men to enter

education,

healthcare, and administration, just as women were encouraged to pursue

careers in

STEM. We could also expand vocational training

and apprenticeships for men who are

skipping college. It's time to bring a generation of young

men back in from the

sidelines.