Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and the Rochester-Monroe Anti Poverty Initiative have released a new study on wage disparities in Monroe County. It shows that minorities are over-represented in the county’s lowest paying industries.
Officials say they are not surprised by the news, but want to look for ways to change that situation.
Leonard Brock, Director of the anti-poverty organization says one way to do that it is to better training people so that they can get better jobs.
“Not necessarily put an onus or responsibility on the employers, but what can we do to strengthen our training programs, our post-secondary credentialing programs , what can we do to help individuals acquire the skills and also work with the employers so they can afford the opportunities so we can begin to mitigate those disparities.”
Brock says the various officials are meeting with representatives of the area’s largest employers, including those in the healthcare field, to see what they can do to help train people so that they can make more money and get them out of poverty.
Warren says she has convened business and community leaders to discuss ways to bring equity to the workforce, and will conduct ongoing discussions to focus on the issue.
