The Workforce Understory — Episode 2: Understanding Underemployment
We invite you to join us for the next session in The Workforce Understory, HWFC’s storytelling and sensemaking series examining what is emerging beneath Hawaiʻi’s labor market. Building on Episode 1, this conversation continues to move beyond headline statistics to better understand where opportunity is taking root — and where systems require attention.
Episode 2 focuses on Hawaiʻi’s underemployment landscape through campus-level and program-level data. While Hawaiʻi has the highest underemployment rate in the nation — with only 43% of four-year college graduates working in a degree-requiring job within five years — this episode looks deeper to understand what the data suggests for workforce strategy, alignment, and action.
This session will explore:
Which four-year degrees lead to a living wage, and the time it takes to reach it
Which programs support graduates to remain in Hawaiʻi, and which experience higher outmigration
Emerging bright spots, bottlenecks, and tensions across campuses and communities
Episode 2 also highlights the relevance of ongoing data alignment efforts under Act 154, as cross-sector partners begin assessing existing datasets and shaping future data governance and infrastructure over the next year.
Together, we will consider:
What current data reveals about education-to-employment pathways
What remains unclear — and why it matters for decision-making
How better-aligned systems could strengthen workforce planning and outcomes statewide
Session Details
📅 Date: December 9th, 2025
🕙 Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
📍 Location: Virtual – REGISTER HERE TODAY
To preview the featured content, visit: Understanding Underemployment — Episode 2
We look forward to continuing this shared learning as we work to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s workforce systems and expand equitable pathways across the islands.
About our presenter, Matt Stevens, HWFC Executive Director:
Matt Stevens has built his career at the intersection of nonprofits, philanthropy, higher education, and government—serving as a trusted bridge to design and deliver initiatives that harness the power of data and technology to better serve people. With nearly two decades of experience, he is known for uniting people, processes, and data into collaborative strategies that create lasting, equitable impact.
He holds an MS in Survey Methodology from the University of Maryland – College Park and a BS in Statistics from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. A resident of Kapaʻau in North Kohala on Hawai‘i Island, Matt balances his professional pursuits with a love of group musical improvisation, mindfulness practice, and early morning triathlon training along the shoulder of Akoni Pule Highway.