Report shows nonprofit job recovery in May

The Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies recently released its monthly report on the impact of COVID-19 on nonprofit employment, and it contained some surprisingly good news. There was an increase of 63,000 new jobs in the nonprofit sector.

Educational services as well as arts, entertainment and recreation, two sectors with notable nonprofit presence, showed significant job growth.

Education gained approximately 29,000 jobs, an increase of more than 10% from April, and arts, entertainment and recreation also showed an increase of more than 10% since April, with over 11,000 new jobs.

Social assistance, another nonprofit-heavy field, also showed an increase in jobs of more than 10% since April. According to Chelsea Newhouse, the author of the report, the increases in education and arts, entertainment and recreation was most likely because of reopenings. With in-person school resuming, education has been able to recover quickly. Similarly, the reopening of arts spaces like theaters and museums has provided for greater employment in arts, entertainment and recreation.

Of course, nonprofits have still not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector’s total workforce is still down approximately 750,000 jobs. This month’s report estimated that the sector will take 16 months to return to pre-pandemic levels of employment.