How has the employment situation of fire-impacted people changed since the fires?

More than 30% of respondents now work fewer hours than before the wildfires. That means they either switched from full-time to part-time work or no employment, or from part-time to no employment. Lack of sufficient job opportunities in West Maui and post-disaster trauma are likely the primary reasons. Only a small minority (3.5%) of respondents now work more hours than before the disaster.

Since the fires, full-time employment declined substantially. Before the disaster, more than 70% of workers in the sample were employed full-time, but now less than half have full-time jobs. At the same time, part-time work, unemployment, and retirement increased. In the year after the wildfires, part-time employment rose from 15% to 25%. Notably, part-time employment declined slightly, but the share of people who are part-time and seeking more hours tripled from 6% before the fires to 18% a year later. The wildfires have also triggered a surge in unemployment among fire-impacted individuals from West Maui and Kula, with the rate rising more than six times from 2.3% to 14.2% in the year since the fires. This compares to an unemployment rate of 4% for all of Maui in July 2024. This means that, a year after the wildfires, ongoing unemployment remains a much larger issue for people who lived or worked in West Maui or Kula before the wildfires than for the wider Maui community. Additionally, the share of people who have left the workforce, including retirees and those no longer seeking employment, has grown to 16%. This is up by four percentage points from before the fires.

As expected, fire-impacted people working in the accommodation (hotels/lodging) and food services, recreation, and entertainment industries have been most affected. Only about 70% of the people who were employed in these industries before the fires still have jobs in the tourism sector. Notably, we also see a similar decline in full-time employment in local services industries (including professional services and healthcare) and in trade and transportation industries. This may be due to both the reduction in visitors and the displacement of locals. People working in government and education jobs have been least affected.

In which industries do fire-impacted people work?

Before the fires, almost half of survey participants were employed in the tourism sector (either in accommodation or food services, recreation, and entertainment industries). A year later, tourism industries employ fewer people. In contrast, all other industries saw increased employment among survey participants as individuals transitioned between jobs.

The tourism industry was severely disrupted by the wildfires. 70% of workers from this sector remain employed in the industry, but less than half kept their full-time employment. However, nearly a quarter of tourism industry workers are now unemployed, retired, or not seeking employment. Only about 12% of visitor workers have transitioned to jobs in other sectors.

Where do fire-impacted people work?

Less than two-thirds of survey participants who worked in West Maui or Kula at the time of the wildfires are still working there a year later. About half of respondents work in other parts of Maui (note that some people work across different locations). About 3% work on the other Hawaiian islands and just 2% on the mainland. The majority of these people no longer live on Maui.