Keller @ Large: Where have all the workers in Massachusetts gone?
BOSTON - From doctors' offices and restaurants to schools and stores, we've seen worker shortages everywhere. And now we may know why.
It's not necessarily because people don't want to work anymore as much as they just don't live here anymore.
"Massachusetts has had the luxury for a long time of thinking people will come here," says Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF). But according to a new MTF study, that has become wishful thinking.
"Declining birthrate, an aging population, less international immigration, it's all coming to a head," says McAnneny.
And people are voting with their feet. The study finds we're hemorrhaging residents - 46,000 last year alone, more than a full house at Fenway Park - while the other New England states are all holding steady or growing.
We all have the same weather. Connecticut and Rhode Island are high-tax states. How is it that we drew the short straw?
"That's the $64,000 question," says McAnneny.
Speaking of dollars, when employers can't find workers it hampers growth, spurs inflation and makes a key Masssachusetts drawback - the high cost of living - even worse.
"People are more sensitive to relative cost differences," she notes. "So if the costs in Massachusetts are much higher than in North Carolina and you have the option to live there but still get a goob job, I think people are choosing to do that."
Yes, weather is a factor, too. And while the incoming governor can't change that, this report suggests she'll have to find ways to lower housing costs, clean up our transportation mess and boost the workforce with better training and more retention of older workers.
Concludes McAnneny: "We're gonna have to work a little harder to make sure we attract and retain people, and I think it's a mindset shift that's really gonna be important."
We've always thought of ourselves as an exceptional place, but it seems the competition has gotten stiffer.
Not so long ago, Bostonians would laugh at the idea of a comparable arts or restaurant scene in another city, but it's no laughing matter anymore. The notion that we have more intelligent, innovative people than other regions no longer holds water. Even our sports dominance is fading.
There's still plenty to love about Massachusetts. But this study shows how we've got to up our game to keep workers here, and do it fast.
