America has millions of open jobs. So why can’t people find work?

This article is written by Tina Hamilton, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in Philadelphia and the founder and CEO of myHR Partner, a human resources outsourcing firm that manages HR for small and midsize businesses throughout the United States. The company has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list four times and was named to the 2025 Inc. Best Workplaces list. An HR expert, Hamilton shares information about a hidden problem building in the U.S. workforce.

America’s job market has a contradiction hiding in plain sight: Companies can’t find enough workers, while millions of people are struggling to get hired. Warehouses, hospitals, and factories are filled with “Now Hiring” signs, yet qualified candidates are still being passed over.

The problem isn’t a lack of jobs or a lack of workers. It’s that the two are increasingly failing to connect.

Everyone is talking about AI, with good cause. Will it take your job? Will it replace your kid’s first career step?

A bigger and quieter problem lies just beneath the surface: The U.S. is heading toward what may be the largest labor shortage in its history. According to research from the Lightcast project, a gap of roughly 6 million workers by 2032.

Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce projects a shortage of 5.25 million workers with education beyond high school, including 4.5 million who will need at least a bachelor’s degree, as retirements and job growth continue to outpace the supply of qualified talent.

A lot of business owners are asking: If there’s a shortage that large, why does it feel like nobody can get hired?

A shrinking workforce

Part of the answer is in numbers most people don’t see. The national unemployment rate is a tidy 4.2%, but labor force participation, the share of adults working or looking, has dropped to 61.5%. More than a quarter of unemployed workers have been jobless for six months or longer. There are now more open jobs than unemployed people to fill them.

So, it’s neither a shortage of open positions nor of people. It’s a shortage of the right people, in the right place, with the right skills, and a shrinking workforce as baby boomers retire and fewer young people replace them.

The mismatch is measurable. The Society for Human Resource Management found that roughly a third of job openings can’t be filled by anyone whose most recent job was in a related field.

Employers want very specific experience. Job seekers, especially recent grads with general degrees, often don’t have it. The shortage will hit hardest in nursing and healthcare, skilled trades, construction, teaching, and precision manufacturing.

These jobs require a physical presence, a license, or years of hands-on skill—work AI cannot do.

This should sound familiar to almost any employer, in every region. Health systems are always recruiting nurses and clinical staff. Manufacturers need welders, machinists, and electricians. In logistics hubs, warehouse and driving jobs sit empty, not because the work dried up, but because companies can’t find enough trained, willing people.

How to navigate the shortage

So, what’s the solution? For employers, the old “post a job and hope the right résumé shows up” playbook won’t cut it. Instead, try partnering with local career and technical schools, investing in apprenticeships instead of waiting for fully formed candidates.

One striking stat: 93% of HR departments have no recruiting program aimed at workers over 65, despite a large, willing workforce.

For job seekers, especially recent graduates, the path forward may require looking beyond the obvious. Instead of waiting for the perfect role that matches a diploma, explore adjacent fields, trade certifications, or apprenticeships that can open doors faster.

The old certainty that a degree alone opens doors is fading. A degree still matters in many roles, but the paths opening up look a little different than before.

The people problem is bigger than a chatbot

None of this means AI isn’t reshaping work. It clearly is, but if you only watch that headline, you’ll miss the one underneath: the people problem. It involves who’s aging out, who isn’t being trained, and who the workforce has stopped looking for.

Industry associations and forward-thinking employers are already preparing for these shifts. For students, job seekers, and anyone choosing a career path, the opportunity is to identify industries where demand is growing, and skills will become more valuable over time.

The jobs that need workers tomorrow may also be the ones that pay more than they do today.

—Expert Opinion by Entrepreneurs’ Organization

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com.

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