"From 2019 to 2024, if California's employment in heavily remote job groups had grown at the nationwide rate, the state would have had 200,000 more jobs in 2024 than it actually had. Since 2019, employment in jobs that have high rates of remote work, such as those in the technology and finance sectors, grew by 16% in the rest of the U.S., while employment in those sectors only grew by 7% in California."
"The increased prevalence of remote work since the pandemic means some California workers can move to cheaper places to live without losing their jobs. Also, residents of other states now have more options to work remotely for Golden State employers without having to pay California prices on housing and other costs."
"LAO analyst Seth Kerstein emphasized that the missing jobs number is an estimate, not a certainty. In order for California to have maintained the same level of job growth compared to the rest of the country, there's a lot that would need to happen economically."
California's labor market has been significantly impacted by the shift to remote work following the COVID-19 pandemic. The Legislative Analysts Office found that employment in sectors with high remote work rates, such as technology and finance, grew substantially faster across the nation than in California. From 2019 to 2024, if California had matched nationwide job growth rates in remote-heavy sectors, the state would have gained approximately 200,000 additional jobs. This divergence reflects how remote work has enabled California workers to relocate to lower-cost areas while maintaining employment, and has allowed out-of-state residents to work for California employers without relocating. Higher California wages and living costs have accelerated this trend, creating a significant job gap.
#remote-work-impact #california-labor-market #job-growth-disparity #covid-19-pandemic-effects #cost-of-living
Read at The State
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]