Catherwood LibraryILR School

According to a new Goldman Sachs report, America’s opioid crisis could be keeping it from reaching full employment. Although factors such as technology and globalization have contributed to the reduction in the labor force, economists argue that opioid abuse prevents many workers from finding work. Former White House economist Alan Krueger also found in a study that just under half of America’s unemployed workers who were not retired, in school, disabled, or taking care of a loved one, said that they had taken an opioid the day before in a survey. The research points to a trend of unemployment wherein low-skill workers find their jobs eliminated by technology and globalization, turn to substance abuse, and then cannot find work because of their dependence on drugs. In a survey of businesses done in May, the Federal Reserve found that employers were unable to fill low-skill positions, largely because workers did not have the minimum job skills, but also because they were unable to pass a drug test.