Janae Montgomery almost gave up on a teaching career until a babysitting gig helped her realize why she wanted to enter the profession in the first place—and why she is uniquely qualified for it.

Montgomery is part of the first cohort of teacher apprentices to graduate from a low-cost higher education program that pairs job-embedded training with online coursework. Montgomery was able to earn her bachelor’s degree through the effort while continuing to work as a paraprofessional, a role she’s held since 2020 at her hometown high school outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Illustration: Patrick Hruby/Los Angeles Times

One day.

For Judith Ortiz, whose parents brought her to the United States from Durango, Mexico, when she was just a toddler, a mere 24 hours have made the difference between a life of freedom and opportunity and one constrained by limits and obstacles.

Can workers over the age of 50 be retained or brought back into the workforce if employers offer them opportunities to reskill and learn the newest technology being used in their jobs and professions today?

In this interview, Multiverse’s Gary Eimerman offers his thoughts on confronting “The Great Retirement” and solving employers’ labor shortages at the same time.