ColoradoBiz Magazine The benefits of investing in workforce development Enhancing the skills of our workforce will allow more of the state’s residents to get back to work May 18, 2021 Like a tornado indiscriminately ripping through a town, the pandemic left some sectors of Colorado’s economy devastated and others untouched. The recovery seems to be following a similar path, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. While the state has regained 57% of the 375,000 jobs lost during the peak of the pandemic, positions in low-wage (and hard hit) industries like hospitality, retail and food service have been slow to return. The Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker, showed that as of February, high-wage employment in Colorado had grown by 6.6%, but low-wage employment ($27,000 and less) declined 16%.