Editorial — ‘Where are the people?’: Thousands of jobs left vacant in area due to lack of workers

The board of directors for the Watertown Local Development Corp. invited Mayforth to attend the group’s Feb. 23 meeting to discuss issues with the local workforce. She asked board members: “Where are the people?”

That’s a good question. It’s a perplexing dilemma: There are plenty of jobs available for workers to fill, but there is a sufficient number of workers to take on these roles.

“[Mayforth] maintains that the north country’s job market has gone through many changes since the [novel coronavirus] pandemic began three years ago and that the market was changing before that. There’s simply not enough people to fill the available jobs, she said. Jefferson County currently has 3,000 job openings without the 3,000 people to fill them,” according to a story published Feb. 23 by the Watertown Daily Times. “During the past 10 years, 10% of the area’s workforce has been lost, she said, attributing much of that to baby boomers leaving the job market for ‘shorts, sandals and bright-colored shirts’ in retirement. Baby boomers are retiring at the age of 55 because they can afford to do so. Other north country residents are moving away where they can get the same job but get paid more, she said.

How come numerous jobs remain vacant? Many people are leaving this region — and New York state — for better opportunities in other parts of the country.

“New York continues to lead the country in population loss and outmigration, according to data released [Dec. 22] by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Empire State saw the largest annual numeric and percent decline in its population between July 2021 and July 2022, dropping by 180,341 people,” an article published Dec. 22 by Spectrum News 1. “Overall, that’s a 0.9% decrease in people living in New York, the bureau reported. Net domestic migration accounted for much of the decline in the state’s population, with New York losing 299,557 to other states. New York in the last two years has seen a sharp drop in its population, losing more than 400,000 people during that time. The state has for generations struggled to retain residents to other states, a trend that worries the business community.”

Conversely, New York topped the charts in 2022 for states with the highest overall tax burden (combined state and local taxes paid by residents divided by that state’s share of net national product). According to the Tax Foundation, the Empire State’s overall tax burden was a whopping 15.9% in 2022.

Obviously, overall tax burdens do not solely account for people’s decisions to move to other states. A variety of factors play into this occurrence.

But the percentage of an individual’s income that is chewed up by state and local taxes is significant. Over the past decade, we have documented the ongoing loss of residents from Northern New York due to policies enacted in Albany that increase the challenges for companies to remain or relocate here.

A lack of workers will hurt local businesses and further discourage efforts to enhance economic opportunities. State authorities need to pay attention to what’s going on and find ways to stem the tide of departures.