Talent Wars 2023: What People Look for in Jobs and Locations

More than three years after the onset of the pandemic, employers and communities across the U.S. are still reeling from unparalleled labor and talent shortages. With an estimated 9.6 million open jobs across the United States, with only 5.7 million actively unemployed workers, there are simply not enough people to fill the open jobs, skillset alignment aside. While this talent shortage is not new, the U.S. is facing several factors that are shifting the talent landscape: 

• The “demographic drought” caused by declining birthrates and the coming surge in Baby Boomer retirement, which is slated to lead to what Insider is calling a “forever labor shortage.” 
• Declining labor force participation rates, which remain below pre-pandemic levels. 
• Massive tech industry layoffs – more than 170,000 since the start of 2023. 
• Stagnant office occupancy – around 40% to 60% of pre-pandemic levels – indicating that hybrid and remote work is here to stay, while employer and employee sentiments about return-to-office continue to conflict. 
• Social and political unrest, coupled with lower consumer sentiment as a result of inflation and economic uncertainty. 

These factors and others are contributing to a new era of workforce challenges and opportunities. Communities across the country are under pressure to identify the trends, tools and tactics that will help retain existing workers and attract new talent to help ease employer hiring challenges and demonstrate capacity to attract new investment. To aid in this process, Development Counsellors International has once again set out to better understand the “why” behind relocation and identify emerging trends. 

In the seventh edition of DCI’s “Talent Wars,” our national research study on the behaviors and preferences of relocating talent, we surveyed more than 1,000 people across the United States (ages 21-65) who moved to a new location at least 100 miles away from their previous residence in the past three years. “Talent Wars” continues to take a deep dive into the top factors that talent considers when making a career or location change, where talent looks to inform their decisions, where talent is relocating and more—all from the perspective of talent who relocated in the past 36 months.  

With more than seven years of talent research to draw on, DCI has been able to capture trends on the evolution of the importance of place-based and practical matters in talent’s evaluation of jobs and locations. 

This year’s report shows some familiar trends identified in recent years, as well as some new changes in light of the shifting talent landscape. Notable takeaways include:

• Talent continues to prioritize practical factors over “nice to haves” when making a relocation decision. Cost of living, housing cost and availability and safety/security remain the most important factors, followed by the ability to live, work and play without a long commute. Public safety was also noted as a strong contributor to overall quality of life, more so than in years past.
• Jobs are once again driving relocation post-pandemic. For the first time since the pandemic, accepting a job that required relocation rose to the top three triggers for relocation with the percentage of respondents reporting that they accepted a new job that required relocation rising from 21% in 2021 and 2022 to 26% in 2023.
• Tech workers are more likely to relocate in light of the recent layoffs. Of participants who identified as tech workers, 65% stated that the recent tech layoffs increased the likelihood they will move out of the state in which they currently live.

For even more takeaways and, most importantly, what this all means for communities and employers in the trenches of talent attraction, check out the full report here: aboutdci.com/talent-wars-2023.