Today’s workforce is not the workforce of ten years ago—it’s not even the workforce of 2019, having experienced the cascading crises beginning with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Beyond the effects of the pandemic on people’s preferences, priorities and challenges, Northeast Ohio’s workforce is changing because its demographic composition is changing. Reaching workers of today and tomorrow first requires understanding who they are, what motivates them and what stands in the way of their success.
One in three people in work is new to their jobs. About 33% of Northeast Ohio workers surveyed in 2022 started their current job in the preceding 12 months, half in a new industry.
44% of Gen Z workers in Northeast Ohio surveyed in 2022 had quit their job in the past year, double the rate of the region’s workers overall.
One in five Northeast Ohioans surveyed in 2022 had done freelance or gig work within the previous year, and most started this work since the pandemic began.