The overall local economy is beginning to bounce back following a COVID-19 induced slowdown, with unemployment rates in the Region now hovering around 6.7%, new construction taking place and businesses, including Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, actively looking to hire workers.

But there is one sector of the work world that was particularly hard hit by the pandemic — women — and economic experts believe they will face an even longer, harder road to recovery, which could in turn hurt companies.

“Once women leave the work force, it will be hard to get back into it. Skills begin to deteriorate. I think this will hit women hard,” said Sara Gundersen, an associate economics professor at Valparaiso University.

Unemployment rates steady, jobs rebound

Unemployment rates in the Region have hovered around 6.7% during the past few months, well below the 16.9% rate in April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to close their doors, but still above its 5.0% pre-COVID rate in February 2020, according to the latest figures released by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

That comes to a total of 21,684 individuals unemployed in the Gary Metropolitan Area, which includes Lake and Porter counties, in February. According to the report, this puts the Region on par with the U.S., which had an overall 6.6% unemployment rate in February and 6.8% in January, but below the remainder of the state, which had a 4.7% rate in both months.

Gary’s unemployment rate in February was 12.6%, again the highest of any city in the state. East Chicago was the second highest at 11.5% and Merrillville’s was at 8.2%.

Shaun Sahlhoff, planning and project development associate at the Center for Workforce Innovations, said he doesn’t have an answer as to why the two north Lake County cities are taking a larger amount of time getting back to normal.

“They generally have lagged behind. I don’t know if there’s one easy answer as to why,” Sahlhoff said.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2.1 million women left the labor market permanently since the start of the pandemic, 20% more than the number of men who left the work force. In fact, women counted for every unemployment claim made in December 2020, according to the BLS report for that month.

Gundersen said the 2008 recession was sometimes called the male recession because it primarily hit manufacturing and some

finance jobs. This downturn is hurting women because it’s targets have included health care, education and the service industry, jobs often occupied by women, she said.

In addition, because in-person school was suspended, and day care options were limited, many women chose to stay at home with their children, she noted. Locally, the number of individuals coming into area WorkOne offices looking for work isn’t as great as one would think, given the unemployment rates, according to the Regional manager Becky Fry.

She said of those women who have come in, 28 have either taken a new job or returned to their previous employer. However, she told the story of one woman in LaPorte County who was laid off from Aerotek, a staffing and recruitment firm, due to the virus.

Fry said the woman had a great job with great pay and benefits that she was able to do.

“Since then she has been collecting unemployment and struggling with bills and no health care,” Fry said of the woman, who wanted to remain anonymous. She said WorkOne has been working closely with the client, but it has been challenging to find her a job since the other jobs she can do don’t pay enough to support her family and take care of her husband.

“I’m not sure where she’s going to end up. She keeps hoping to get called back to Aerotek when COVID slows down and travel picks up,” Fry said.

Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of global outplacement for the executive and business coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said unless employers bring back or retain their female workers, future recruitment efforts, as well as future economic success, would be compromised.

“Alarm bells should be ringing at companies across the nation right now. The necessity of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace is at the height of importance for boards, shareholders, current employees and consumers,” he said.

New jobs bring new hope

Many schools and businesses have already opened their doors and Gov. Eric Holcomb announced he was lifting remaining restrictions on businesses, beginning April 6. Gundersen said the health care industry had already started to recover, as well.

At the new Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana in Gary, the vice president of human resources, Dawn Reynolds Pettit, is busy trying to fill another 300 positions in different fields — from cashiers to cooks to security personnel to marketing — before opening day on May 14.

“We have fantastic opportunities for individuals ready to grow with us,” Pettit said.

She said now that she knows the opening day, she has her foot all the way down on the pedal in hiring mode.

Pettit said in addition to the more than 400 positions already filled, she is looking to bring on an additional 150 team members in the food and restaurant sector plus 150 more in the other fields. The casino has already held job fairs and a vendor fair for entrepreneurs looking to do business with it, and will hold more job fairs in the coming weeks, she said.

Pettit said those in the culinary field are paid at or near the top of the market at Hard Rock Casino. She said they would like folks with some type of culinary experience for their chefs and cooks, but added they also need servers and stewards to work in the casino’s several restaurants. Those wishing to apply for a position at the casino should visit its website.

Elsewhere, Amazon has announced it’s building distribution warehouses in Valparaiso and Merrillville, with opening dates in late July, early August. The Valparaiso facility will employ more than 100 individuals and the Merrillville facility will bring 125 to 250 jobs with benefits inside the facility, 230 delivery driver positions and 60 or so Amazon Flex drivers.

Merrillville Town Manager Patrick Reardon announced Wednesday that the town would be holding a job fair around the same time as the opening date, with both Amazon and Midwest Truck & Auto Parts, which is also building a distribution warehouse in town, having a table there.

Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.