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A recent survey of West Michigan businesses suggests wage growth will increase through 2023

The latest release of population and diversity data from the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrates that West Michigan continues to grow as a popular region that can compete with significantly larger metropolitan areas.

As pandemic restrictions ease and businesses begin the transition to a post-pandemic mode of operation, The Right Place team met with leaders from 118 area companies in the month of June. These meetings were designed to better understand the challenges and opportunities facing our regional companies, while offering insight into the region’s overall economic health.

While the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic remain largely unknown, current data shows a mixed-bag of effects on the West Michigan labor market.

We all witnessed how the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) halted the global economy in a largely unprecedented manner. Yet, while many economic sectors were put on pause, others continued operating throughout the pandemic. These sectors were classified as ‘essential’ industries, and consequently were operated by workers who were also classified as essential.

Commuting patterns, or commuting flows, are a critical piece of intelligence that The Right Place often uses often to inform our economic development work. Commuting flows help us better understand the interconnectedness between communities in the region.

The goal of the Metro Monitor is to deepen understanding of economic success by thinking beyond growth alone. The report more broadly evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of America’s metros, measuring them at a regional level to provide valuable insights into the parts that make up the whole of each state. This year’s edition of the Metro Monitor focuses on trends in Growth, Prosperity, and Inclusion (including race) for the 100 largest U.S. metro areas.

The future of work is changing, and while no one can definitively lay claim to its landscape, businesses are already strategizing in anticipation of the imminent disruption. While much of what’s to come is still unknown, we can be relatively confident the future of work will be characterized by rapid technological adoption driven by high-speed mobile internet, artificial intelligence, big data analytics and cloud technology.

If you asked someone what industry Michigan is known for, most people would say manufacturing. While it’s true that the state has an overarching strength in a variety of manufacturing sectors, West Michigan holds domestic and global competitiveness in another area, too.

West Michigan’s manufacturing industry has a long-standing, strong history in the region. Recently, The Right Place business research team updated our manufacturing stats (NAICS 31-33), with our labor market information tool, Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI). In today's West Michigan Dataconomy blog, we’re going to dig a bit deeper into one of the key occupation groups within the manufacturing sector.