of manufacturers reported at least a partial shutdown of their operations early on in the pandemic. layoffs were widespread. the initial job loss of more than 20 percent in new york city exceeded the national decline of 15 percent. 2 you'll hear more about how the employment situation has evolved over the past four years from my colleague jaison abel in a few minutes. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches i lived and worked here in lower manhattan, so i remember just what that drastic change felt like. the city went from being packed at all hours of the day to being almost unrecognizable. here at the new york fed and in offices just like ours across the city, only essential workers came to work in person. and neighborhood businesses and services - and the employees that supported them - suffered as a result. but after that chapter came a remarkable rebound. to be clear, things are not exactly the same as they were prior to the pandemic. the city had to adapt to changes in office attendance and commute patterns, and the fallout is still lingering. but we are back on our feet, and the current reality is far different from the onset of pandemic and the period that followed. one indication that's important for our conversation today is that we've recovered the jobs lost during the pandemic and then some. now, shows and venues are packed. it's hard to get restaurant reservations at certain places. apartment vacancies are low. and office workers are back, even if in some cases it's only a few days a week. when we first hosted this conference in 2022, the discussion focused on remote work and the city's infrastructure, with a particular focus on an equitable recovery. the overarching question that shaped our conversations in that moment was, " what is the future of new york city? " now, that question has shifted. there's no doubt that new york city has a great future. so today, we're asking, " what kind of future do we want to build for new york city? " the future will build and expand on what has worked so well for the city in the past. the foundational aspects that have made new york so successful for so long are still present. the excitement and enthusiasm that draw people to live and work here have not changed. at the same time, many of the challenges have not changed either. for example, the high cost

john c williams : bridging the skills gap remarks by mr john c williams, president and chief executive officer of the federal reserve bank of new york, at the " skilling the gap : building local talent for indemand careers ", columbia - greene community college, hudson, new york, 21 october 2022. * * * as prepared for delivery thank you for that kind introduction. i'm so pleased to be here - especially at this time of year, when the autumn colors light up the region. in fact, my wife and i have fallen in love with this area - so much so, that we are now splitting our time between columbia county and new york city. of course, i'm not just here as your neighbor. part of my job as president of the new york fed - one of the best parts - is to meet with business and community leaders from across the federal reserve's second district. this gives me the opportunity to see and hear the challenges they face. and throughout the second district - which includes new york state, northern new jersey, southwestern connecticut, puerto rico, and the u. s. virgin islands - the issues i hear about consistently have to do with labor shortages and the skills gap. employers can't find enough skilled workers - and workers can't obtain the skills they need to move up the economic ladder. before i go any further, i will give the standard fed disclaimer that the views i express today are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the federal open market committee or others in the federal reserve system. the struggle to fill jobs in the current environment, filling jobs can be a challenge. employers - including those here in columbia and greene counties - are facing significant worker shortages. many are struggling to hire people, especially at the entry level - in construction, nursing, and manufacturing. the skills gap is a big obstacle. in 2020, more than half of available job seekers in columbia and greene counties had a high school diploma or less, and only a quarter had an associate degree or higher. 1 employers, especially those in trucking and the trades, grapple with developing a pipeline of skilled workers. an aging population is another issue. over the past 20 years, the size of the workforce here has declined as the population has stagnated. residents here are older - the median age is late 40s, as opposed to late 30s for all of new york state. in some cases, residents don