Corporate Executive Survey Commentary: Labor Skills and Costs - Inversely Proportional
As the importance of skilled labor has increased, the concern about labor costs has fallen, and companies are increasingly locating in the places where millennials live, which tend to have a higher quality of life.
Q1 2016
If a company does plan a new domestic facility, the projects tend to be smaller. About 60 percent of the respondents indicate that their domestic projects will involve the creation of fewer than 50 jobs and less than $10 million of capital investment.
The availability of skilled labor remains the number-one consideration in site selection. Over the past 30 years, as the importance of skilled labor has increased, the concern about labor costs has fallen. If you compare the results of 1986 to 2015, the two factors have swapped places in the rankings. Today, companies are willing to pay for a higher skilled labor force because executives believe the workers will be more productive.
Quality of life has become a major concern in 2015 because companies realize that millennials are important to their future work force, and millennials are very concerned with the community and its amenities. To attract the higher skilled millennials, companies are increasingly worried about locating in places where millennials want to live. Or, as we are seeing, companies are locating where the millennials are already living — places that tend to have higher quality of life.
Project Announcements
Little Leaf Farms Plans Coffee County, Tennessee, Production Operations
07/02/2025
White Rock Truss & Components Expands Lee County, Virginia, Operations
07/02/2025
Fox Tank Company Plans Coshocton, Ohio, Operations
07/02/2025
Ascentek Expands Shreveport, Louisiana, Operations
07/02/2025
ProBio Establishes Hopewell, New Jersey, Gene Therapy Operations
07/02/2025
22nd Century Technologies Expands Fairfax County, Virginia, Headquarters Operations
07/02/2025
Most Read
-
20th Annual Area Development Gold and Silver Shovel Awards
Q2 2025
-
First Person: Joe Capes, CEO, LiquidStack
Q2 2025
-
The Legal Limits of DEI in Incentives Agreements, Hiring, and Contracting
Q2 2025
-
From Silicon to Server: Mapping the Data Center Supply Chain
Q2 2025
-
39th Annual Corporate & 21st Annual Consultants Surveys: What Business Leaders and Consultants Are Saying About Site Selection
Q1 2025
-
Rethinking Life Sciences Site Selection in a Resilient and Dynamic Market
Q2 2025
-
First Person: David Robey, Co-CEO of QTS Data Centers
Q2 2025