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Op-Ed: How Will We Respond to this Crisis? It’s Time to Fix the First Out, Last In Problem

March 25, 2020

At a Glance

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[The COVID-19] crisis presents an opportunity to break the cycle of first out, last in that has calcified inequality over successive crises and recoveries.

Op-Ed: How Will We Respond to this Crisis? It’s Time to Fix the First Out, Last In Problem

The people who are the first to lose their jobs in a recession are often the last hired in an upswing. The COVID-19 crisis provides us with an opportunity to break the “first out, last in” employment cycle that has calcified inequality over the course of many crises and recoveries.

JFF President and CEO Maria Flynn tells us how skills-based hiring practices can help level the playing field in a March 24 op-ed on Working Nation.

Portrait of a woman with short, dark hair in a navy blouse. Text reads: Maria Flynn, JFF President & CEO, with a quote on skills and equity in hiring. Hashtags: #OpEd, WorkingNation.com.

What we do during this crisis will be a measure of our commitment, compassion, and humanity. But what we do in response will define what this future will look like for the next generation.

Maria Flynn, President and CEO, JFF