Laura Fortman

The program provides employees up to 12 weeks of benefits for major life events, starting May 1. Funding for the benefits will be supported by payroll taxes.

"The wage gap remains a reality we must confront," Maine Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said on Thursday's National Equal Pay Day. The designation represents how far into the year women in the U.S. just have worked in 2026 to earn what men made in 2025.

The study, conducted by Camoin Associates, documents a workforce shortage primarily in engineering, as well as production and related management roles.

Maine’s clean energy workforce reached nearly 15,600 jobs in 2023, growing at a rate nearly twice that of the state’s overall workforce since 2019. But employee recruitment and retention remain a challenge.

The goal is to prepare women for quality careers in the union trades earning good wages and excellent benefits.

Employers who made the most hires during the 2022 campaign were Bonney Staffing, MaineGeneral Health, NorthernLIght Health, Bath Iron Works and the Maine Department of Corrections.

The average unemployment tax per employee is expected to be $236 annually, a decrease of $32 from the average in 2022, the Mills Administration said.

Backed by $11 million in federal funding from the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan and additional funding from the U.S Department of Labor, the apprenticeship program is part of a larger effort to address workforce challenges.

The 2021 campaign, set to kick off later this month, will feature a mix of in-person and virtual events. During last year's all-virtual version, 226 employers participated and 145 veterans and military family members were hired.

One of nine states selected for a national initiative called the Workforce Innovation Network, Maine will receive up to $100,000 in grant funding and coaching to connect workers with jobs. Maine’s job recovery slowed substantially in late 2020.