New Empower Mississippi Report Finds Mississippians Want to Work, but Many Remain Disconnected from Opportunity

The Tape Measure Problem draws on conversations across the state to identify five workforce findings and a path forward 

Empower Mississippi today released The Tape Measure Problem: What Mississippians Taught Us About Work and Opportunity, the third report in the organization’s ongoing study of Mississippi’s labor force participation rate. Based on seven focus groups, individual interviews, and group meetings with workers, employers, educators, workforce professionals, nonprofit leaders, government officials, and community members from across the state, the report found that many Mississippians who are trying to work and build better lives face significant barriers to doing so.

The report’s title stems from a recurring observation in conversations with employers and workers. The ability to use a tape measure was repeatedly cited as an unexpected gauge of workforce readiness. That example became a symbol of a broader disconnect between people and the preparation, information, and relationships that help them succeed.

“The most encouraging thing we heard across Mississippi is that people want to work,” said Grant Callen, Founder and CEO of Empower Mississippi. “They want to provide for their families, earn success, and build meaningful lives. But too many Mississippians are disconnected from the opportunities around them, or lack the preparation, support, and relationships needed to reach them. Our challenge is to connect more people to opportunity, remove unnecessary barriers that make obtaining a job more difficult, and help every Mississippian reach their fullest, God-given potential.”

Five major findings emerged from Empower’s research:

• Mississippians want to work. Focus group participants consistently described a desire for self-sufficiency, purpose, financial stability, entrepreneurship, and upward mobility.
• Too many Mississippians don’t see the opportunity around them. Many participants lacked awareness of available careers, training programs, apprenticeships, and other workforce opportunities.
• Too few Mississippians are workforce ready. Employers described a widening gap between what students are taught, what employers need, and what young people require to navigate adulthood and work successfully.
• Real-life barriers can put opportunity out of reach. Childcare, transportation, caregiving, addiction, criminal records, and the loss of benefits as people earn more can keep willing people from entering or remaining in the workforce.
• People connect people to opportunity. Career coaches, mentors, teachers, parents, churches, employers, and trusted community leaders often provide the bridge between individuals and opportunity.

The report recommends exposing young Mississippians to work earlier, preparing students for the real world, making opportunity easier to see, removing barriers that put work out of reach, and building stronger human and institutional connections to opportunity. Specific recommendations include expanding youth work opportunities and career coaching, connecting public assistance to employment and training, addressing benefit cliffs, expanding high school equivalency access, allowing portable benefits for independent workers, strengthening recovery-friendly and reentry employment pathways, and investing in mentorship programs such as JROTC.

The full report is available HERE.