A few weeks ago, more than 300 of Connecticut’s top executives from banking, government, manufacturing, real estate and accounting gathered for the CT Business & Industry Association’s (CBIA) annual fall economic conference, The CT Economy. Several topics that impact the economic health of the state were discussed, from the exodus of millennials to housing sales throughout the region.
Here are some of the bigger takeaways from The CT Economy event, as reported on CBIA.com:
Foreign Direct Investment – last year, foreign direct investment generated over $725 million for the state. Close to 100,000 workers are employed by U.S. affiliates of multinational companies, with the biggest share of investment coming from Europe.
Educated, young adults are moving out-of-state in their quest to find jobs and a lower cost of living than what CT offers.
Outmigration of Millennials – Millennials are officially the largest living generation, and their behavior is impacting, not necessarily in a good way, the CT economy. Educated, young adults are moving out-of-state in their quest to find jobs and a lower cost of living than what CT offers. Economic experts say it’s a trend that will likely last for the next several years. Many millennials who are staying put live at home with their parents (38% compared to the national average of 33%). This of course has an impact on the CT economy and housing market.
Housing Market – Susan Coleman, professor at the University of Hartford, shared at the conference that CT’s housing market is a mixed bag. Home prices dropped close to 2% from 2015, and home sales are up almost 10%. But the state’s home prices aren’t responding to the economy as they are in other New England states.
Survey of CT Businesses – The CT Economy event also presented the findings from the 2016 Survey of Connecticut Businesses, published by CBIA and accounting/consulting firm BlumShapiro. In looking at the workforce findings of the survey, many CT businesses see most of their current hiring needs focused on entry-level jobs. The landscape of CT’s workforce is also changing – many businesses predict losing 2.6% of their workers to retirement and plan to replace 16% of their current workforce within the next five years. That will be a tough order to fill with the rising number of millennials leaving the state.
We’re happy to say that there are many great employers throughout CT that turn to A.R. Mazzotta for help with their workforce needs – whether they are entry-level, management-level, temporary or permanent. If you’re a CT employer looking for some assistance with your workforce staffing, contact us today. If you’re a CT worker looking for a new employment opportunity, check out a few of our current job openings. Here’s to the CT economy!