MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Building the Neurodiversity Talent Pipeline for the Future of Work

During recent economic policy updates, Jerome Powell, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, announced that the American labor market is suffering from a structural labor shortage. Its origins are varied — demographic variables such as an aging population and early retirements, the tragic loss or persistent absence of many workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a historic drop in immigration, among others — but the numbers are now too large to ignore. At the end of last year, there were approximately two job vacancies for every available worker, expanding the labor gap to around 10 million workers. Political economist Nicholas Eberstadt framed it this way: “Yes, the United States has a Depression-scale work problem.”

About the Author

Maureen Dunne, Ph.D., is a globally recognized neurodiversity expert and the former president of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, the third-largest consortium of community colleges in the United States. She is the author of the forthcoming book The Neurodiversity Edge: The Essential Guide to Embracing Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Differences for Any Organization (Wiley, 2024).

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