More Hispanics are entering the workforce, and women are driving the trend, according to a recent Washington Post analysis of data published by the labor department. Economists told the newspaper that cultural attitudes and educational attainment are pushing up the supply of minority women in the work world.
Although most new hires are aged 25 to 54, the publication spoke to a nineteen-year-old apprentice lab technician at IBM in New York.
Suriana Rodriguez, 19, who is earning about $40,000 a year, graduated in 2018 both a high school diploma and an associate degree, part of a new program IBM helped create eight years ago called P-Tech (Pathway to Technology Early College High School), which aims to get more people from disadvantaged backgrounds into tech.
“I want to make my family proud, especially my mom,” Rodriguez told the publication. “My mom took a chance on bringing me to the United States at such a young age,” she said.
Washington Post said the labor department figures show employers started 3,229 new apprenticeship programs last year — almost double the rate in 2016. Part of the jump may be due to companies feeling the need to grow talent from within and the Trump administration’s push to formally register apprenticeship programs, the paper said.
However, for Rodriguez, the main hurdle now is that she’s part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program.
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