Facebook pixel State of the St. Louis Workforce Reports

State of the St. Louis Workforce Reports

Understand the St. Louis job market through our in-depth reports, surveys, and infographic summaries.

2023 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

The 2023 State of the St. Louis Workforce report focuses on the comprehensive overview of the regional economic and workforce trends. It adds a highlight on an individual sector each year to track trends in a specific industry that is key to the region, and therefore key to St. Louis Community College’s education and training efforts. This report includes a spotlight on advanced manufacturing, a pillar of our region and gateway to future economic growth and jobs. The St. Louis area holds 42% of Missouri’s jobs in advanced manufacturing.
Download the 2023 Report

2023 Report to the Region

This summary highlights key findings of the 2023 State of St. Louis Workforce Report. Explore a snapshot of data and opportunities explored in the full report.
Download the 2023 Report to the Region

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

2022 Report to the Region

This summary highlights key findings of the 2021 State of St. Louis Workforce Report. Explore a snapshot of data and opportunities explored in the full report.
Download the 2022 Report to the Region

2021 State of the St. Louis Workforce 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 2021 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

2021 Report to the Region

This summary highlights key findings of the 2021 State of St. Louis Workforce Report. Explore a snapshot of data and opportunities explored in the full report.
Download the 2021 Report to the Region

2020 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

Prior to COVID-19, last year's report questioned if our region had achieved a full-employment economy and discussed who had been left behind. Our 2020 report has expanded to explore the shorter-term impacts of COVID-19 on our region's workforce and the implications of what lies ahead. While many employers and workers in the St. Louis region have faced challenges during the past 12 months, a sense of resiliency remains for many, and hints of optimism are starting to emerge.
Download the 2020 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

2020 Report to the Region

This summary highlights key findings of the 2020 State of St. Louis Workforce Report. Explore a snapshot of data and opportunities explored in the full report.
Download the 2020 Report to the Region

2019 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

Our 2019 survey of 1,144 employers from 16 industry sectors represents a composite of the St. Louis regional economy. Since St. Louis Community College’s first report in 2009, we have tracked the region’s transition from the high unemployment of the Great Recession through the last ten years of growth to a labor market now constrained by a lack of available workers. Over one-third of employers reported that they were experiencing a shortage of skilled applicants. The percentage of employers reporting they will hire new full-time employees has dropped by six percent. And employers are continuing to balance a desire for experience and education with the need to maintain a pipeline of candidates in a low unemployment economy. We partnered with three local organizations to understand who is being left behind in our full-employment economy, why, and what employers and community partners are doing to eliminate those gaps.
Download the 2019 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

2019 Report to the Region

This summary sheet highlights key findings of the 2019 State of St. Louis Workforce Report. Explore a snapshot of data and opportunities explored in the full report.
Download the 2019 Report to the Region

2018 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

For 2018, the survey and report focused on three industry sectors that are of critical importance to our economy. Information Technology is represented by Technology-Intensive Services, employing more than 140,000 workers in the region, many of whom utilize information technology skills in their work. Average wages exceed $90,000. Financial Services has become an important factor in the changing profile of the economy with first- and second-tier corporate locations established in St. Louis. Health Care – with nearly 165,000 employees – provided a crucial employment lifeline during the difficult recession years and continues to grow to serve an aging population. More than half of the job postings for health care are for middle-skill jobs. The 2018 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report reflects a growing local economy but with a constricted labor market supply due to low unemployment, an aging workforce and static labor force participation that may eventually constrain future growth.
Download the 2018 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report

2018 Report to the Region

This four-page summary report highlights the findings of the 2018 State of St. Louis Workforce Report on St. Louis Technology, Finance and Health Care industry sectors. Gain critical insights on the region's employer outlook, barriers to employment, applicant shortages and shortcomings, required workforce skills, and education and experience requirements.
Download the 2018 Report to the Region

Back to top