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Here's how U.S. workers can adapt following the coronavirus recession

Congress should create reskilling and education program to fix economy: Danielle DiMartino Booth
VIDEO15:1715:17
Congress should create reskilling and education program to fix economy: Danielle DiMartino Booth
Key Points
  • Workers should start thinking about how to reinvent themselves following the recession, according to Danielle DiMartino Booth.
  • She also warned about the danger of skills atrophying during a period of unemployment.

Health care, cybersecurity, and trade union jobs are the most recession-proof jobs, according to Quill Intelligence CEO Danielle DiMartino Booth. However, other industries are facing more insecurity. 

With 837,000 Americans claiming initial unemployment in the most recent weekly data, many are left wondering how they will jump back into the workforce.

"You have to start thinking about how I can reinvent myself," Booth said.

On the other side of the pond, many European workers aren't focused on this question. In Europe, unemployment support was given to workers through companies to maintain that relationship. For example, furloughed workers in the U.K. received up to 80% of their original salaries.

Booth said the approach in Europe has yet to be tested, but it could come back to bite them once the economies reopen.

"You're keeping people in positions that ultimately might not exist in the end," Booth said. "If the same person ends up being out of work at the end of that period, they're going to have had several years of their skills atrophy[ing] as opposed to being a little bit more productive."

Booth suggested the U.S. government should invest in reskilling workers in the hardest-hit industries like energy. She also pointed out that engineers have already identified necessary infrastructure improvements and think the U.S. could create jobs by taking up these projects.

Watch the video above to see the full interview.