Episode One: The Geography of Opportunity
Overview
What this is:
The Workforce Understory is HWFC’s new initiative to illuminate hidden but vital stories shaping Hawaiʻi’s workforce future. This multi-episode series combines data, storytelling, and interactive scorecards to help decision-makers see what’s growing — and what still needs care to thrive.
This first episode takes a county-by-county look at a critical question:
Are there enough living-wage jobs across Hawaiʻi to support the next generation?
We’ve designed this release to meet you where you are — whether you’re just starting to explore Hawaiʻi’s workforce challenges or you’re deep in the data every day.
Understanding the future of work in Hawaiʻi is complex, but building a better future is a shared effort. That’s why we’ve structured this episode in four layers — each offering a different level of detail, depending on your time, interest, and role in the system.
There’s something here for everyone:
a student wondering what their future might hold,
a policymaker planning the next decade,
a funder or educator trying to make sense of the signals,
or a curious community member who cares about the next generation.
Choose the layer that speaks to you — or explore them all.
Five Layers of the Workforce Understory:
Choose Your Own Adventure
-
Executive Summary
You Are:
Someone who needs a fast, shareable snapshot — or prefers a printable overviewYou’ll Discover:
A clean, static PDF with key charts and high-level takeaways ready to download or share
Estimated Time:
4-5 Minutes -
Interactive Insights
You Are:
A quick-glancer who wants the headlines — and likes to click around while learningYou’ll Discover:
A visual tour of key takeaways, each paired with interactive charts you can explore on your own
Estimated Time:
8-10 Minutes -
Full Episode
You Are:
A deep diver who wants the full story — from data sources to implicationsYou’ll Discover:
A detailed walkthrough of the methodology, findings, and what it all means for Hawaiʻi’s workforce future
Estimated Time:
15-20 Minutes -
Guided Webinar
You Are:
Someone who prefers to absorb info via discussion and shared reflectionYou’ll Discover:
A guided walkthrough with live commentary, chart demos, and moments to reflect and respond
Estimated Time:
45-60 Minutes -
Data Exploration
You Are:
A data explorer ready to dive into the numbers and surface your own insightsYou’ll Discover:
Interactive data tools that let you analyze county-level data, spot patterns, and shape your own takeaways
Estimated Time:
5-30 Minutes (or more!)
Episode One: Executive SUmmary
Interactive Insights
A visual tour of key takeaways, each paired with interactive charts you can explore on your own
Insight One:
Are There Enough Good Jobs for the Next Generation?
Takeaway: In every county, the number of future workers outpaces the number of good jobs available — unless wages rise or new opportunities are created.
Insight Two:
Which Jobs Are Growing — and Do They Pay a Living Wage?
Takeaway: Many of the fastest-growing jobs fall below the living wage — especially in tourism-heavy sectors — highlighting a need to improve job quality, not just quantity.
Insight THREE:
How Does Education Level Shape Job Opportunities Across Counties?
Takeaway: A college degree helps — but isn’t a golden ticket. Some counties have more living-wage jobs for workers without degrees than others.
Insight Four:
What Jobs Can You Get With Just a High School Diploma?
Takeaway: Many entry-level roles don’t pay enough to live on — but some skilled trades and supervisory roles can offer a pathway forward with the right training.
Insight Five:
Are We Missing the Middle-Skill Pathways?
Takeaway: Despite widespread focus on reskilling and community college pathways, only a small share of living-wage jobs are tied to associate’s degrees or short-term credentials. Most roles still require a bachelor’s or more — or none at all. This signals a critical opportunity gap in the middle. This gap is felt even more on on Neighbor Islands, where less of these opportunities are available and a larger portion of the population has less than a Bachelor’s degree.
Episode One: Full Episode
Episode Guide
-
1. From Crisis to Curiosity
Why we’re asking new questions about job quality and generational opportunity
🪷 The spark: reframing the problem from labor market trends to generational choices
-
2. How We Did the Digging
The data sources, wage thresholds, and methodology behind the analysis
🪴 Transparency in how we surfaced the roots beneath the numbers
-
3. The Canopy View: Statewide Patterns
Living-wage job gaps, education requirements, and occupational trends
🌿 What you see when you zoom out across the entire forest
-
4. Uneven Ground: County-Level Realities
How opportunity shifts from island to island — and why place matters
🌱 Because growth happens differently depending on the soil
-
5. What’s Emerging: Four Signals from This Episode
Insights shaping Hawaiʻi’s workforce future
🌾 Early growth worth nurturing — and questions that remain
-
6. Explore the Ground Level
Dive into interactive dashboards to shape future episodes
🧭 Your role in this story: ask questions, explore, and guide what comes next
From Crisis to Curiosity
Why we’re asking new questions about job quality and generational opportunity
When we released From Crisis to Opportunity in January 2025, we didn’t expect it to take on a life of its own. What began as a clarifying analysis of Hawaiʻi’s workforce investments quickly became a catalyst for statewide conversation. Over the past eight months, we’ve presented the findings to hundreds of stakeholders—from educators and agency leads to funders, employers, and young people themselves.
The message has resonated across the board: the status quo isn’t working, and the cost of inaction is too high. But more importantly, a shared vision has begun to take shape—one grounded in the idea that if we align around a common goal, bold innovation becomes possible. That vision is now being formalized through a soon-to-be-announced Generational Workforce Commitment: a bold, 20-year effort to ensure that every person in Hawaiʻi has access to a path toward a good job and a future here at home.
When we were running the analysis for From Crisis to Opportunity last fall, we used the statewide 2020–2030 Long-Term Occupational Projections published by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR). The data showed us the scale of projected job openings—388,540 over the decade—and we initially compared that to the 170,000 young people expected to enter Hawaiʻi’s workforce over the same period.
But what stood out most wasn’t just the size of the gap—it was the quality of those jobs.
By appending mean wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we discovered that only about 120,000 of those projected openings were likely to pay a living wage for a single adult in Hawaiʻi (approximately $56,000/year). That insight reframed the challenge—not as a labor shortage, but as a question of generational equity: Will our young people have access to the kinds of jobs that allow them to stay, live, and thrive here?
Now, in 2025, DLIR has released an updated set of occupational projections at the county level—giving us a chance to revisit our original analysis with a more localized lens. Because while state-level data tells us that action is needed, county-level data begins to show us where and how that action should take shape. And over time, even more granular community-level data will be essential to designing strategies that are targeted, responsive, and grounded in the lived realities of each place.
To kick off the Workforce Understory series, we’re returning to the methodology that sparked statewide momentum—but this time, we’re applying it at the county level. This isn’t just about identifying the gaps. It’s about cultivating a shared curiosity about the questions we still need to ask. Because if we’re going to build workforce strategies that truly work for Hawaiʻi, we need to start with the stories unfolding in each community.
How we Did the DIgging
The data sources, wage thresholds, and methodology behind the analysis
To recreate and localize our original analysis, we updated our approach using newly released data and county-specific assumptions. Here’s what we did:
We used DLIR’s updated 2022–2032 Long-Term Occupational Projections, now available at the county level, to estimate how many job openings are expected over the next decade in each county.
We appended the most recent mean wage data from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) + Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wages Statistics (OEWS) and compared it against county-specific living wage thresholds—accounting for the fact that the cost of living differs meaningfully across islands. Statewide, the estimated living wage for a single adult has increased since our last report and now exceeds $56,000/year in every county.
We filtered for projected job openings that meet or exceed the living wage threshold, giving us a rough estimate of how many jobs might provide a sustainable income for a single adult in each place.
We compared that total to the number of youth expected to enter the workforce in each county between 2022 and 2032. To do this, we used five-year American Community Survey estimates of how many residents will turn 19 during that time period.
We also re-ran the original statewide analysis using this new 2022–2032 data and updated cost-of-living assumptions to provide a clean baseline for comparison.
This gives us a simple but powerful lens:
A first-pass estimate of how many projected job openings in each county will pay enough to live on
A county-by-county comparison that reveals how access to living-wage jobs varies across the state
A starting point for more place-based, equity-informed conversations about where workforce investments and innovations are most urgently needed
The CAnopy View: Statewide Patterns
Living-wage job gaps, education requirements, and occupational trends
At first glance, Hawaiʻi’s job projections might seem promising.
Between 2022 and 2032, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) estimates 371,600 job openings across the state. That’s more than double the 170,505 young people expected to enter the workforce during the same period.
This statewide analysis re-runs the original From Crisis to Opportunity methodology using DLIR’s most recent occupational projections, updated mean wage data, and new cost-of-living thresholds. The shift in topline numbers from our 2024 report is primarily driven by the rising cost of living in Hawaiʻi—now reflected in the MIT single-adult living wage benchmark of $62,233 per year.
But a closer look reveals a more sobering reality:
Only 101,200 of those projected openings are expected to meet or exceed that wage threshold.
That means just 59% of new workforce entrants will have access to a living-wage job.
(This data is analyzed for the 354,000 total ten-year job openings that had available wage data. There were an additional 17,600 ten-year job openings that were excluded from analysis due to lack of wage data within the DBEDT/BLS OEWS Data Set)
This mismatch is at the heart of the challenge facing Hawaiʻi’s next generation. It’s not just about whether there will be enough jobs—it’s about whether those jobs will support a life here. And right now, the majority won’t.
Because there won’t be enough living-wage job openings to meet the needs of Hawaiʻi’s next generation, it’s essential to understand what kinds of opportunities do exist — and who they’re accessible to. Not all jobs are created equal. The projected openings over the next decade vary widely by occupation, wage level, and education requirement. That means the pathways to a stable future in Hawaiʻi will look very different depending on what kind of work young people pursue, what credentials they hold, and where they live.
To respond effectively, we need to move beyond topline numbers and ask deeper questions:
What kinds of jobs are most likely to pay a living wage?
What education or experience do they require?
And where are these jobs — both geographically and across sectors?
These patterns matter, because they shape everything from the kinds of training programs we should invest in to the supports we need to expand access to good jobs in every community.
Chart Tips:
🖱️Hover over each bar for detailed metrics🔄 Switch between “Above” and “Below” Living Wage to compare opportunity types🔄 Toggle between “Percent” and “Job Count” to change how labels are displayed
When we look at the education requirements of these living-wage job openings, a clear pattern emerges:
41% require a bachelor’s degree or higher
31% require only a high school diploma, but many of these roles also involve longer-term on-the-job training, apprenticeships, or years of experience
10% require a graduate degree
Smaller shares require an associate’s degree (3%) or short-term postsecondary training (5%)
In other words, while some living-wage jobs are accessible without a college degree, most require either formal credentials or real-world experience—underscoring the importance of both training pipelines and job quality investments.
Chart Tips:
🖱️ Hover over each bar for detailed metrics (job count and percent of total)🔄 Switch between “Above” and “Below” Living Wage to compare opportunity types🔄 Toggle between “Percent” and “Job Count” to change how labels are displayed
When we look at where projected living-wage job openings are concentrated, a clear pattern emerges: they’re not evenly distributed across all occupation groups.
Instead, the majority cluster in a handful of sectors—particularly business and management, construction, healthcare, and education. Together, these four categories account for well over half of all living-wage job openings expected statewide over the next decade.
Other sectors—like engineering, administrative support, community services, and even transportation—offer smaller but still meaningful shares. Meanwhile, some familiar fields like retail and hospitality appear much less frequently, reflecting the ongoing mismatch between many of Hawaiʻi’s largest job creators and the kinds of wages required to live here.
This chart helps us visualize where economic opportunity is growing—and just as importantly, where it’s not. It invites us to ask:
Are we preparing young people for the kinds of jobs that will exist and pay enough?
Are there clear, equitable pathways into these sectors—especially for learners who face barriers to traditional credentials?
And how do these patterns shift when we zoom in on individual counties?
These clusters offer insight into where opportunity could grow—if the right supports are in place.
But while these numbers reflect the statewide landscape, the reality on the ground may look very different from island to island. Access to business and healthcare careers, for example, may be robust on Oʻahu but far more limited in rural corners of Neighbor Islands. And job quality within these fields can vary widely depending on geography, employer, and industry structure.
That’s why the next step is so important: zooming in on county-level trends to see how these statewide dynamics play out in local contexts.
Uneven Ground: County-Level Realities
How opportunity shifts from island to island — and why place matters
Chart Tips:
🖱️ Hover over the chart to explore the exact breakdowns by county—including total job openings, number of living wage jobs, and the percentage of projected growth that falls into each category.
While the statewide picture shows that too few job openings will pay a living wage, that imbalance is even more pronounced when we zoom in on Hawaiʻi’s counties.
The first visualization below illustrates what we’re calling the “Shape of Growth” for each county—comparing the quantity of projected job openings (2022–2032) to the quality of those jobs. Each circle represents 1,000 projected job openings.
🟡 Yellow circles = jobs that pay below a living wage
🟢 Green circles = jobs that pay at or above the county’s single-adult living wage threshold
What you’ll notice immediately is that most of the projected job growth in every county is expected to fall below the living wage threshold. The imbalance is starkest on Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi, where less than 15% of job openings are projected to pay above a living wage.
Chart Tips:
🖱️ Hover over the chart to explore the exact breakdowns by county
The second visualization flips the lens: rather than focusing on job openings, it compares each county’s projected youth workforce entrants to the number of living wage job openings available during the same period.
Each figure icon represents 1,000 workforce entrants:
🟢 Green figures = young people for whom there is a living-wage job projected
🟡 Yellow figures = young people who will be entering a workforce without a living-wage job available
This side-by-side comparison helps answer a critical question: If nothing changes, how many of our youth will be able to stay and thrive in their home communities?
The gap varies dramatically across counties:
On Maui, only 45% of workforce entrants will have access to a living wage job
On Oʻahu, the rate improves to 62%, but still leaves tens of thousands without clear options
On Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island, the numbers are far more alarming—just 29% and 34% of workforce entrants, respectively, will find a living wage opportunity waiting for them
| County | Job Openings | % Below Living Wage | Workforce Entrants | Living Wage Jobs | % Entrants with Living-Wage Job |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu | 249,500 | 71% | 116,116 | 71,500 | 62% |
| Maui | 47,700 | 81% | 20,037 | 9,000 | 45% |
| Hawaiʻi Island | 41,000 | 79% | 25,038 | 8,600 | 34% |
| Kauaʻi | 17,700 | 85% | 9,269 | 2,700 | 29% |
Job creation alone doesn’t guarantee opportunity. The types of credentials required—and the wage outcomes tied to them—play a defining role in shaping who gets to thrive.
The interactive chart below lets you explore the education requirements of projected job openings in each county. Use the filter to toggle between:
Jobs that pay a living wage
Jobs that fall below the living wage threshold
Chart Tips:
🖱️Hover over each bar for education level and detailed metrics🔄 Switch to “Job Count” view📊 Neighbor Island categories shrink significantly illustrating that the majority of job openings are on Oʻahu (Honolulu County)📍Click on a county name to isolate the details for that county specifically
Immediate Insights: A Tale of Two Labor Markets
When we compare the education requirements of living wage jobs versus below-living-wage jobs, a clear divide emerges:
▶ Living-Wage Jobs
Bachelor’s degrees dominate. In every county, a large share of living-wage jobs—up to 47% in Honolulu County—require a four-year degree.
High school diplomas still matter, particularly on Kauaʻi (50%) and Maui (41%), but many of these jobs require significant experience or on-the-job training.
Very few roles require only an associate’s degree or short-term credential—raising concerns about whether those middle-skill pathways are being underutilized or undercounted.
▶ Below-Living-Wage Jobs
The vast majority—more than half in every county—require no formal education at all.
Kauaʻi and Maui: ~64% and 62% of these roles, respectively
Honolulu and Hawaiʻi County: 52% and 55%
The share of jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree drops to near zero (just 2–4%), and associate’s degrees barely register.
High school diplomas are more common in this group, but they don’t guarantee better pay: many of these roles still fall below the wage threshold.
What This Tells Us
This comparison reveals two very different education-to-employment pipelines in Hawaiʻi:
One leads to living-wage jobs—but often requires a bachelor’s degree or higher
The other is far more accessible—but leads to jobs that don’t pay enough to live on
It also surfaces some key questions:
Are we investing enough in middle-skill pathways that could lead to good jobs without requiring a four-year degree?
Are we building clear, affordable training ladders that help workers move from low-wage to living-wage roles over time?
And are we equipping learners—especially those from underserved communities—with the navigational support to make informed choices about what credentials will actually lead to quality jobs?
Chart Tips:
🖱️ Hover over any segment to see job count, percent share, and occupation group.🔄 Toggle between “Above” and “Below” Living Wage to compare quality vs. quantity of job growth.📊 Switch between “Percent” and “Job Count” to change how each occupation’s share is displayed.🗺️ Use the county selector to explore job trends by island.🔍 Click into the “Other” category for any county to reveal a full breakdown of additional occupations not shown in the main ring
Immediate Insights: Where Opportunity Grows — and Where It Doesn’t
When we look at which occupation groups are projected to offer living-wage jobs over the next decade, a clear concentration emerges — and it differs significantly from where most jobs are expected to grow.
▶ Living-Wage Jobs
Business & Management is consistently the top living-wage sector across all counties, accounting for:
33–37% of living-wage job openings on Kauaʻi, Maui, and Hawaiʻi Island
Nearly 30% in Honolulu County
Construction & Repair and Healthcare also show up as strong sources of living-wage opportunity, especially on the Neighbor Islands.
Education makes a notable contribution, particularly on Hawaiʻi Island and Honolulu — though teacher pay can still fall below the wage threshold in some cases.
Other fields like Engineering, Technology, and Legal are present in Oʻahu’s living-wage economy, but much smaller or absent on Neighbor Islands.
▶ Below-Living-Wage Jobs
Food Service dominates the below-living-wage landscape:
Over 33% of projected openings on Maui and Kauaʻi
29% in Honolulu
28% on Hawaiʻi Island
Administrative, Retail & Sales, and Cleaning & Maintenance follow closely — representing the bulk of low-wage job growth statewide.
Healthcare appears on both lists, reminding us that pay levels vary dramatically depending on the role and credential.
Community-serving roles like Education, Protective Services, and Social Services also appear below the threshold in many counties — raising concerns about how we value essential public service work.
County-Level Takeaways: Why Local Context Matters
Living-Wage Opportunity is Highly Concentrated in a Few Fields — but Varies by Island
For example, Education accounts for 13% of living-wage jobs on Hawaiʻi Island, but only 6% on Maui and is entirely below the living wage threshold in some Kauaʻi data points. This suggests the availability — and compensation — for similar jobs differs dramatically by geography.
Neighbor Islands Have Fewer Living-Wage Occupation Categories
Oʻahu’s above-living-wage economy includes Engineering, Legal, Arts, and Sciences. These fields barely register or disappear entirely on Maui, Kauaʻi, and Hawaiʻi Island — a sign of limited sectoral diversity in local economies.
Maui and Kauaʻi Face an Even Sharper Tilt Toward Below-Living-Wage Work
On Maui, 13,000 of 17,000 projected food service jobs fall below the living wage — nearly 34% of all low-wage openings. Kauaʻi shows similar patterns, with Food Service making up a full third of its below-living-wage job growth. This highlights how single sectors can dominate low-wage landscapes in smaller economies.
Administrative and Healthcare Roles Straddle the Wage Divide
Some counties show Healthcare in both above and below categories, meaning the same sector offers vastly different economic futures depending on the role. This duality reinforces the importance of pathway clarity and job quality within sectors.
Construction & Repair Offers a Strong Living-Wage Pathway on Neighbor Islands
On Maui, Hawaiʻi Island, and Kauaʻi, Construction & Repair accounts for 19–33% of all living-wage job openings — making it a key opportunity sector that is more accessible than fields requiring a four-year degree.
What This Tells Us
There is no single labor market — there are two very different futures emerging.
One is anchored in living-wage sectors that tend to require degrees, certifications, or specialized experience.
The other is growing rapidly in low-wage sectors that often lack upward mobility — despite employing thousands of local residents.
This raises critical questions:
Are we steering young people and career-changers toward the sectors that actually pay enough to live in Hawaiʻi?
Are we expanding access to training and credentials in fields like Construction, Healthcare, and Business that show living-wage potential?
And are we doing enough to improve job quality in the sectors that currently dominate the low-wage landscape?
Understanding these sector dynamics — and how they differ by county — is essential to building an economy that works for everyone.
By zooming in to the county level, we uncover realities that statewide averages obscure:
Some counties are far more dependent on low-wage sectors like food service and retail.
Others have a narrower mix of living-wage opportunities — often concentrated in just 2–3 sectors.
Access to certain high-wage fields like Engineering or Law may simply not exist outside of Honolulu.
These patterns suggest that a one-size-fits-all workforce strategy won’t work. To build equitable opportunity statewide, we need to understand — and respond to — the unique dynamics in each island economy.
What’s Emerging: Four Signals from This Episode
Insights shaping Hawaiʻi’s workforce future
The data confirms what many communities already feel: while jobs are being created across Hawaiʻi, most of them won’t pay enough for individuals — especially young people — to build a life here.
Statewide, only about 59% of incoming workers are projected to find a job that pays a living wage. In some counties, that number drops below 30%.
And even among the jobs that do offer sustainable wages, most require a bachelor’s degree or years of experience — pathways that aren’t equally accessible across communities.
This goes beyond being a labor market trend. It’s a generational challenge.
We are on the cusp of launching a 20-year Generational Workforce Commitment: a shared goal to ensure every resident in Hawaiʻi has access to a good job that enables them to stay and thrive here at home.
But this vision can’t succeed without clear-eyed, place-based data.
Workforce opportunity doesn’t look the same in every county — or even in every neighborhood.
This first episode of The Workforce Understory reveals four essential insights — and opens up the questions we’ll need to explore in future releases.
Four Insights from Episode One:
-
Growth Alone Does Not Ensure Access
Job openings are increasing — but too few meet the wage and skill thresholds needed for long-term stability.
Questions this raises:What policy or employer investments could increase the share of jobs that meet a living wage threshold?
Which industries are most likely to grow their share of living-wage jobs over the next 5–10 years?
How can we track job quality improvements — not just quantity — over time?
-
Geography Shapes Opportunity
What works on Oʻahu may not work on Kauaʻi or Hawaiʻi Island. Local context matters — in infrastructure, scale, and economic base.
Questions this raises:
Which communities have the biggest mismatch between youth entering the workforce and living-wage job availability?
What types of economic development strategies are needed to grow good jobs on Neighbor Islands?
How should training investments and sector partnerships be tailored by county?
-
Middle-Skill Pathways Are Underleveraged
Across all counties, there is low representation of living-wage jobs tied to associate’s degrees or short-term credentials.
Questions this raises:
Are current training programs aligned with the jobs projected to grow — and the wages they offer?
Where are the disconnects between postsecondary programs and employment outcomes?
What would it take to elevate the role of short-term credentials in producing quality employment outcomes?
-
We Need Aligned, Data-Informed Innovation
Whether you’re a policymaker, funder, educator, or employer, advancing workforce equity requires a shared understanding of what opportunity looks like locally.
Questions this raises:
What are the leading indicators we should track to measure workforce progress across counties?
How can stakeholders use this data to prioritize where innovation and resources are most needed?
How might we build a stronger culture of data use, not just data access, across sectors?
Explore the Ground Level
Dive into interactive Dashboard to shape Future Episodes
Introducing the County Workforce Data Explorer
These interactive data visualizations are designed to spark exploration — and conversation.
We invite you to explore the trends, test your assumptions, and share what you’re seeing. Your insights, stories, and questions help us understand not just what’s changing, but how it’s showing up in your community.
As The Workforce Understory series unfolds, these county-level tools will evolve into Workforce Opportunity Scorecards — tailored to each island’s unique needs. Together, we’ll surface the most meaningful indicators, track progress over time, and ensure that every community has a clear view of what’s growing — and what needs support.
This is a shared learning journey. Your perspective helps shape the data tools we build and the decisions they inform.
-
Hawaiʻi County Interactive Data Visualizations
-
Honolulu County Interactive Data Visualizations
-
Kauaʻi County Interactive Data Visualizations
-
Maui County Interactive Data Visualizations
A Closing Reflection: Learning from Nature
In nature, growth and resilience depend not just on the number of trees, but on the health of the entire forest — the quality of the soil, the distribution of light, the strength of interdependent relationships.
A healthy economy should work the same way.
If we want the next generation to thrive, we can’t just count jobs.
We have to ask: Are the right conditions in place for opportunity to take root — in every community, for every learner?
This first episode shows us where growth is happening, and where it’s struggling. But more importantly, it reminds us that workforce equity requires cultivation — through place-based investments, better data, and systems designed to nourish both people and places over time.
Future episodes of The Workforce Understory will keep surfacing the signals that matter. And together, we can grow the future Hawaiʻi deserves.