A new survey finds kamaʻāina more worried than ever about Hawaiʻi’s future.
Pacific Resource Partnership recently released a comprehensive survey, called “Hawaii Perspectives.” It polled nearly 900 full-time residents statewide last fall and is the second such survey PRP has conducted since 2019.
PRP’s interim Executive Director Joshua Magno told PBN that one of the most surprising findings was “how few people perceived positive change in significant issues impacting our state when compared to our 2019 surveys.”
About 56% of respondents felt Hawaiʻi was moving in the wrong direction, compared to 45% in 2019.
The negativity concerns “making it in Hawaiʻi,” so we reached out to other organizations for their reactions, and their plans to improve opportunities.
Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, says his group has made strides in workforce development.
For example, the first group of 31 medical assistants and certified nurse aides just graduated in December from a new earn-and-learn program at UH Maui College, enabling them to become licensed practical nurses, and to increase their earning potential.
The association’s next goal is to develop a similar pathway from LPN to registered nurse.
Chamber of Commerce Hawaii representatives said the PRP survey confirms perceptions they’ve seen in their own research.
The chamber’s recent 2030 Blueprint for Hawaii’s Future Initiative is meant to address Hawaiʻi’s economic weaknesses with a long-term policy approach to workforce retention, housing affordability and more.
