(TNND) — A new report looks at the barriers and opportunities for rural workers to stay and thrive in their hometowns.
The Generating Rural Opportunities in the Workforce report, a joint effort by the University of Phoenix Career Institute and the Center on Rural Innovation, found that workers living in rural areas are more than twice as likely to feel limited in their employment opportunities, 35% compared to 14% for folks living in cities and suburbs.
Sixty percent of rural workers feel pursuing a career is out of reach.
Nearly 70% of rural workers would leave their community to pursue employment, compared to just over half of workers in urban and suburban areas.
And nearly two-thirds of rural Gen Z workers and over half of rural millennials feel held back in their careers because of where they live, according to the GROW report.
Amanda Weinstein, the director of research at the Center on Rural Innovation, said Friday that people want access to economic opportunity where they live.
And the rise of the “knowledge economy” and increase in technological jobs has had a disproportionately negative impact on people living in rural areas, she said.
“For a large part because they just don’t have the technological infrastructure that larger cities have been able to build up,” Weinstein said.
The rural tech gap is shrinking, as 73% of rural residents now have high-speed internet at home, according to the Pew Research Center.
But that still trails the shares of urban (77%) and suburban (86%) residents with home broadband.
Weinstein noted that even though the gap is closing significantly, many rural communities haven’t had access to high-quality internet for nearly as long as their city counterparts.
But she said rural workforce development has also lagged.
Especially with the expansion of remote work, rural workforce development needs to refocus on national and global opportunities, not just the labor needed by local companies.
Raghu Krishnaiah, the chief operating officer for University of Phoenix, said there’s an employment cliff looming for companies across the country. The big baby boomer generation has reached retirement age.
He said companies can benefit just as much as workers from investing in the rural workforce.
“I think demand for being able to access that is actually increasing even among employers,” he said.
Krishnaiah noted that rural workers are just as optimistic about the future of their careers as their nonrural counterparts (68% vs. 71%).
They’re just not optimistic that they can stay in their hometown for their careers.
“If we can find solutions … and put them in place, they’re going to be able to actually meet those expectations much more easily,” Krishnaiah said.
Weinstein said there’s a high level of interest in entrepreneurship among rural folks, but “there is a bit of a mismatch” with the tools and opportunities they’ve been given.
Businesses, schools and the government all need to step up and open pathways to economic opportunities for rural residents, she said.
Continued investment in broadband infrastructure is part of the solution, they said.
Building professional social capital is another part.
About half of rural workers said they need to develop skills to build a professional network, and about 40% cite not having access to the right tools and resources to achieve their career goals.
Building formal and informal mentorship programs and hosting local networking events can help.
Employers and institutions can also help rural workers connect with the right pathways for skills development, and they can foster entrepreneurship among rural folks, according to the GROW report.
