Employment.
After much discussion and debate, WCRI Executive Director Rick Victor informed WCRI meeting attendees that one of the more significant issues facing work comp is the gap between jobs needed to return to pre-recession levels of employment and current employment.
Specifically, Rick noted there are now 25 million potential workers and 3.5 million current job openings. This will – and undoubtedly is – dramatically affecting claimants looking to return to work in a new position.
If those jobs aren’t there;
– disability durations will increase
– medical costs may well escalate
– overall claim costs will rise
– older workers may find it particularly hard to get hired
– states with older populations and declining industries may be particularly hard hit
Combine Rick’s elephant with rapidly rising hospital and pharmacy expenses (the ‘elephant’ CWCI research guru Alex Swedlow and I discussed at length over dinner last week) and things aren’t looking so bright.
Quite the opposite.
Nov
22
Joe,
What are your thoughts with respect to those injured workers who want badly to return to work, but due to appropriate post-injury restrictions placed on their ability to do their old job, are not allowed to or can not return to their old job and not offered modified work? The gap that you and Rick accurately describe is an “employers market” so to speak. There would seem to be little incentive for employers to take back anyone who has work restrictions when they can go out and hire from a very broad hiring pool.