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2022 State of the St. Louis Workforce

The Pathway to Job Growth

State of the St. Louis Workforce

Our Workforce, Our Mission

Understanding the Greater St. Louis region's workforce is the first step in developing talent and building successful partnerships. Each year, the State of the St. Louis Workforce report and event explore trends and needs impacting regional employers and the labor market.

To set our students up for success, we need to teach them relevant skills for in-demand fields. To teach them those skills, we need to understand the needs of the workforce. We use our research to shape our programs so that our graduates are equipped to excel in the ever-evolving job market.

Each year, we invest time and resources into taking an in-depth look at the job market around us. We then present our findings to the community at our annual State of the St. Louis Workforce event.

2022 State of the St. Louis Workforce

The State of the St. Louis Workforce report and event explore trends and challenges impacting our region’s employers and workforce. The report was released on Aug. 31, 2022, at the annual event at the Florissant Valley campus of St. Louis Community College.

The event featured a talk on current labor force conditions by William M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Phyllis Ellison, associate vice chancellor of the Workforce Solutions Group at St. Louis Community College, presented the State of the St. Louis Workforce report. The event concluded with a panel on the impact of four key areas on the St. Louis region: geospatial, healthcare, immigrants, and startups. Dr. Jeff Pittman, chancellor of St. Louis Community College, moderated the discussion with Betsy Cohen, executive director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project; Andy Dearing, president of Spatial STL Advisors; and Danish Nagda, MD, CEO and founder of Rezilient Health.


2022 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

For the first time in three years, we can examine the St. Louis workforce beyond the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual State of the St. Louis Workforce report supplies our region with a clearer picture of our primary asset: our workers. The report also highlights three key topics that impact St. Louis now and that will continue to influence our economy for the foreseeable future: geospatial, startups, and immigration. For all the attention they receive in the media, they remain buzzwords and a mystery for most of us.
Download the 2022 State of St. Louis Workforce Report
Download the report release presentation slides
See all State of the St. Louis Workforce reports


Download the 2021 Report

This report explores the trends and challenges impacting our region’s employers and workforce and examines “Equitable Recovery, Equitable Opportunity, Equitable Growth” with a focus on aspects of the recently released STL 2030 Jobs Plan, including the definition of “quality jobs,” building the pipeline to equitable opportunity, the workforce of the future and the role employers, institutions and individuals can play in helping our region become a talent engine and magnet for workers living in St. Louis.
Download the report release presentation slides
See all State of the St. Louis Workforce reports

Download the 2020 Report

Prior to COVID-19, the 2020 report questioned if our region had achieved a full-employment economy and discussed who had been left behind. It explores the shorter-term impacts of COVID-19 on our region's workforce and the implications of what lies ahead.
Watch a replay of the 2020 State of the St. Louis Workforce virtual event
See all State of the St. Louis Workforce reports

Download the 2019 Report

In the 2019 report, employers reported a shortage of skilled applicants, while also responding that the desire to hire new full-time employees had wained compared to the previous year. Employers continue to balance a desire for experience and education with the need to maintain a pipeline of candidates in a low unemployment economy. In addition, you'll discover perspectives from three local organizations as they discuss who is being left behind in our full-employment economy, why, and what is being done to eliminate those gaps.
See all State of St. Louis Workforce reports

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