Letter from Mary Anne Whelan

Demographic Info Not Included

The recent article on “workforce challenges” in our county [“Otsego County Workforce Challenges Are Daunting for Both Public, Private Sectors,” September 12, 2024] emphasized efforts to promote opportunities for those with higher education. No mention was made of the demographics of the county, which play an important role.

According to the 2022 census, the mean age in the county was 40.8 years: While the population here generally has declined by nearly 3 percent between 2010 and 2022, the fastest growing group were those over the age of 65 (an increase of 26.6 percent).

There is a need both for younger persons and for people who can work at non white-collar jobs—on farms and elsewhere. At the same time, there has been articulated resistance coming from the Otsego County Board of Representatives to accommodating any resettlement of immigrant/refugee persons to Upstate New York, as proposed by Governor Hochul (See FJ/HO April 2023). Such persons would help to fill those necessary roles on which we all depend. They would provide a younger workforce.

There is no unemployment problem here: “Help Wanted” signs are everywhere. And they really won’t eat your pets.

Mary Anne Whelan
Cooperstown