04/07/2025

How to Lead on Workforce Development

Research, both quantitative and qualitative, can help

These are, to say the least, disruptive times. But when it comes to the U.S. workforce, the disruption has been going on for a while now—secondary education, the internet, AI, housing, the cost of living and more have all played a role in what kinds of jobs people look for, when and where they look for them and what industries appeal most to them.

One lesson I drew from working on the latest set of Associations Now Deep Dives on workforce and associations is that research is essential, both on the quantitative and qualitative levels. For instance, it was only by surveying its workforce that the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy learned that, since the pandemic, the students expressing interest in the field were getting younger.

According to a 2022 survey, AAMFT found that 61 percent of people in the field under 40 pursued it while an undergraduate, unlike older practitioners who entered the field after college. That meant AAMFT had to change its approach to recruitment. As its internal report put it, “targeting those in undergraduate programs with information about the profession will be vital to continue its growth.”

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.