When I began working at EDC, I saw a Super Bowl ad that caught my eye—both a car commercial and a moving pep talk in a post-recession era.
As the narrator spoke about “halftime in America” and the opportunity to make a comeback, images of businesses, communities, and people from across the country flashed across the screen. At the end, the narrator’s face came into view as he walked through a locker room tunnel of a packed stadium. You may remember that narrator was actor and director Clint Eastwood, and that his message carried optimism, hope, and resiliency at a critical turning point.
Later that year, to bring that halftimehope home, EDC made our own version with philanthropist and business icon Malin Burnham as our narrator (our Clint Eastwood). You can watch that clip from 2012 here.
And indeed, when we pause at the midpoint to recognize the progress made and refocus on the work still ahead, we are always better for it. This year should be no exception, as EDC recognizes:
Our region’s progress toward an inclusive and thriving San Diego at EDC’s Annual Dinner, where we honored Taylor Guitars and WD-40’s Garry Ridge in partnership with Point Loma Nazarene University and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The local and global growth of San Diego small businesses through programs like MetroConnect, and World Trade Center San Diego’s nationally-recognized role in fueling this expansion.
AI-Machine Learning technology’s proliferation and job creation in San Diego’s key economic clusters, explored in our AI in San Diego report series with Booz Allen Hamilton.
Advancing San Diego’s work to strengthen San Diego’s defense talent pipeline, convening SDMAC and other partners to assess and support emerging shipbuilding needs.
Still, we have work to do—to analyze San Diego’s RNA and Cybersecurity clusters, to lead this fall’s trade mission to Korea with Mayor Gloria, to celebrate your innovation at our annual Summer Bash, and to continue driving inclusive growth.
It’s halftime, San Diego. And it’s with and through your continued leadership, collaboration, and contributions during the months ahead that we will continue to strengthen the region we’re proud to call home.
While companies continue to cut costs and make layoffs in the wake of a highly anticipated (though not clearly signaled) recession, the nation’s ratio of available workers to open positions remains less than one to one. This means that there are more open positions across the United States than unemployed people available to fill them. Demographic changes can be attributed to a decline in the working age population following baby boomer retirements, as well as decreased immigration.
And San Diego is not immune to these impacts. In fact, the nature of the region’s highly skilled economy adds even greater complexity. From August to December 2022, there was an average of more than 50,000 people unemployed month over month in San Diego (BLS). During that same period, there were more than 238,000 unique job postings in the region (Lightcast). Of those 238,000 jobs, 31 percent required a bachelor’s degree or higher as a minimum requirement. Currently, these ‘must-haves’ serve as a proxy for a list of technical and interpersonal skills employers are looking for in candidates. But a recent publication by The Burning Glass Institute explores how that assumption, even in the tech industry, has been changing for the better since before the pandemic.
According to a 2021 statement, multinational tech leader IBM has “stripped bachelor’s degree requirements for more than half of [its] U.S. job openings, and [is] continuously reevaluating [its] roles to prioritize skills over specific degrees.”
Like IBM, it’s time for San Diego to rethink talent pipeline development.
Highly educated individuals are important to the growth of our innovation economy, but they cannot (and should not be expected to) fill every job. Not to mention, the nature of diversity, equity, and inclusion means not every hire should be the ‘university-educated type.’ Often, years of experience and/or non-traditional training can both substitute a degree and serve a company better.
For three years, a key feature of the Advancing San Diego program has been to help employers define the skills required for critical jobs—looking beyond the degree(s) and instead at the capability. Using the Talent Pipeline Management model, talent acquisition teams are challenged to step away from habits and traditions and gain a real understanding of the jobs of today and tomorrow. Doing so has the potential to open high-growth, high-wage occupations to opportunity populations—moving the needle on our Inclusive Growth goals and further seeding diversity of thought within companies.
As the three-year, $3 million AdvancingCities grant from JPMorgan Chase sunsets, San Diego and Imperial Valley were pursued and granted $18 million to continue this talent work. This new funding, called the Border Region Inclusive Talent Pipeline Collaborative, builds upon the work of Advancing San Diego by expanding into K-12 education, into new industries, and into new partnerships.
While this investment aligns and strengthens publicly available resources, long-term solutions to workforce challenges will require the investment and creativity of employers like you.
If you’re interested in learning more about Advancing San Diego, or you want to work with the EDC team to dream up and pilot creative talent solutions, let’s talk.
Before joining EDC in 2016, I spent more than seven years as an economist and forecaster. On my last day, my boss gifted me a crystal ball as a facetious reminder of how economic forecasting is often more art than science—perhaps mystic, even.
Nearly seven years later, that crystal ball sits on my desk and continues to serve as that reminder. Particularly at the start of every new year. As we look ahead to 2023, there are many economic headwinds to be concerned about—inflation, labor shortages, and record housing unaffordability.
One of the biggest stories at the moment is the massive layoffs in the technology industry. This news is incredibly painful for those who have lost their jobs and should not be minimized. However, much of the reduction in workforce reflects a reversal of the over-extension by these firms in 2022. More importantly, there is a silver lining for those workers affected in that nearly every industry is still hiring and struggling to fill currently open positions. The country currently has the lowest ratio of available workers to unfilled positions in 15 years.
When we look at the San Diego region more specifically, we find that many of the large layoff announcements come from companies with small and or niche presence in San Diego. Last week, official employment statistics were published that showed San Diego’s unemployment rate fell again in December to 2.9 percent. The region ended the year with 50,500 more jobs and saw the labor force grow 1.2 percent. San Diego’s labor market ended 2022 in one of its strongest positions on record.
Throughout 2022, San Diego companies posted more than 53,000 unique jobs openings. As we begin 2023, local employers are still hiring. In fact, during the first few weeks of the new year, local tech companies have already posted 1,213 unique positions with a median advertised salary of $92,000.
The news of tech layoffs and high cost of financing has not scared off investors from San Diego startups. Rather they are flocking toward quality companies with serious growth prospects—something our region is known for. During the fourth quarter of 2022, San Diego tech startups pulled in $671 million in venture capital funding, which continues to trend up relative to pre-pandemic levels.
So when I look at that crystal ball, I see…well I don’t see much. But when I look at the data and past the news headlines, I see a San Diego economy that is diverse and resilient. I see a region that is well positioned to usher the next era of semi-conductor production and clean technology innovation.
While the winds may shift, our north star remains the same. Nationwide talent shortages are a stark reminder that we must build our own skilled workforce. We must continue to support quality job growth in our small businesses by connecting them to new customers locally and around the globe. We must invest in the infrastructure needed to ensure businesses can grow and working families can afford to enjoy all that our beautiful region has to offer. Together, we can make our economic vision a reality.
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I am struck by just how fast the past year has gone by. While the last few years have made it easy (and more than justified) to lament so much of what we have all been through—and what so many people are still going through—I want to use the inspiration of the month to give thanks.
The EDC team just recently moved into our new offices on the fourth floor of UC San Diego Park & Market in Downtown San Diego. And when you go through a big office move after being in the same place for more than a decade, you find a few reminders of what has made the work so important and special over the years. Through thank you notes from past colleagues, to small gifts and tokens from trade missions and visiting delegations, to photographs of different generations of team members, investors, and partners, the memories come rushing back.
Work, I have always found, can be as important to who we are and who we become as family, friends, education, environment, and the many other factors that help shape our lives. As colleagues, co-workers, supervisors, leaders, and partners, we not only have an opportunity to contribute to organizations, missions, and/or visions that matter to us, we have the opportunity to contribute to the lives of those we cross paths with every day.
As I looked through the thank you, farewell, and congratulations notes I have received (and saved) over the years, I started to recognize a pretty obvious trend: In my 30 years in the workforce, what has mattered the most to others hasn’t been the successes, failures, promotions, achievements, innovations, or inspirations that can often be associated with management and leadership positions and organizational successes. It has been the way we treat each other during the simplest or most challenging of times that matters the most. Almost more than words can express.
To everyone who has played a role in making my days better over the last 10 years at EDC and the last 20 years in San Diego, I am so thankful for your presence in my work and in my life. In the days we have left in 2022, let’s try to take some time to reach out to those who matter most to us and tell them why. Just an e-mail, a voicemail, or a few kind spoken or written words can become such an important treasure to someone around you, that they just might still have them sitting nearby in their (new) office decades later.
Below are some of the ways you can engage with the EDC team and our work in the coming weeks. We’re thankful as always for your investment, partnership, and support that makes it all possible…
San Diego’s healthcare providers face numerous challenges in attracting and retaining talent. Faced with a global pandemic, now more than ever healthcare providers are seeing higher-than-average turnover rates for essential roles like medical assistants. Additionally, many companies have fewer connections to top, preferred providers of healthcare talent in the region.
Made possible by JPMorgan Chase, Advancing San Diego is a demand-driven strategy to address talent shortages and remove barriers for small and not-for profit companies to access qualified workers through a variety of services including its internship program. After a competitive application process, Rady Children’s Hospital was selected to host six paid ASD healthcare interns from top Preferred Provider training programs, at no cost.
ASD provided a competitive wage and stipend, as well as access to a vetted pool of diverse medical assistants. Rady also had the opportunity to work with ASD’s staffing partner, Manpower San Diego, which administered the interview process, administrative HR tasks, payroll, and more.
RESULT
As a result of EDC’s ASD program, Rady was able to skip the challenges of talent sourcing and dive straight into building camaraderie with their new interns and the Preferred Provider programs in which they came from. At the close of the internship, Rady Children’s Hospital hired all six students full-time—opening a door of social mobility for underrepresented talent in essential roles.
The program also helped relieve budgetary constraints by saving Rady thousands in payroll, overhead, and talent sourcing expenses.
“Advancing San Diego has helped us tap into diverse talent highly-prepared for the clinical hours we require. EDC’s program helped us establish better relationships with local education programs and introduced us to six skilled medical assistants who we’re excited to bring on full-time.”
-Jenna Martin, Strategic Business Project Manager, Rady Children’s Hospital
I hope this note finds you all healthy, well, and beating the heat as we head into fall.
A quick look at my social media pages is a clear indication that school is back in session across our region. From first day of pre-school photos to first day of college photos, the lifelong learning process is on full display in the posts of proud parents, grandparents, and family members.
It goes without saying that education is the cornerstone of economic development and opportunity. These days our team at EDC is working more closely with our education partners than ever before, and we can truly feel their enthusiasm as this new year begins. From the opening of new academic buildings, to the announcements of new courses and programs, to the celebration of a new stadium—the successes and results of business and education partnerships are on full display across our region.
Over the last few years, I have marveled at how the quiet generosity of one EDC investor initiated a new partnership between a local high school and non-profit organization that has changed student’s lives. I have seen our community colleges and higher education partners work tirelessly with our team and employers to ensure they are consistently expanding and upgrading their curriculum to meet changing industry needs and requirements—evidenced by the recent, exciting news of an $18.1 million grant to SDICCCA. And within our own organization, we have watched part-time student internships lead to full-time job offers, promotions, and more as part of Advancing San Diego.
When we think about our Inclusive Growth goals, and more specifically about doubling the number of post-secondary completions by 2030, it can feel overwhelming. But we know that we can only get there by leveraging, supporting, and embracing every partnership we have with our local educational institutions and systems. By working together to keep student curriculum and exposure current, we can drive socio-economic mobility for the talent of tomorrow.
So this September, as the education and lifelong learning cycle begins anew, we urge all of our private sector EDC investors—regardless of industry—to continue expanding your relationships with the education leaders you share our table with. They cannot get us there alone, and neither can you.
A broad list of resources for employers seeking to recruit and retain talent can be found here. If you have any questions on who and how to engage them, please contact our Advancing San Diego team.
Wishing all of our education partners (and parents) within our EDC community a wonderful, safe, and productive school year ahead. I’m proud to work with and through all of you to ensure that the young people growing up in all corners of our community have the opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive within our region and economy.
As of May 2022, there were 75,630 unique jobs posted in San Diego County, but only 42,100 unemployed San Diegans. Couple this talent shortage with unrealistic demands around compensation, benefits, and remote work, it’s fair to say we are living the most competitive battle for talent yet.
To meet employer demand, our region needs to double the number of post-secondary degree, certificate, or program completions per year. In particular, investing in Black and Hispanic youth would turn San Diego’s talent shortage into a surplus. More on Inclusive Growth here.
As part of our ongoing talent development efforts, EDC has compiled an ongoing hub of programs and initiatives below to help you fill your high-demand San Diego roles. Sign up for the talent newsletter for ongoing opportunities to participate in the development of our talent pipeline.
HIRE TALENT
Build relationships with Advancing San Diego’s Preferred Providers of talent at Preferred Provider Meet and Greet: IT & Cybersecurity, hosted by EDC, San Diego Workforce Partnership, and CCOE. Join us Wednesday November 9, 4:00 – 6:00 pm, at UC Park and Market. → Register here.
Connect with entry-level cybersecurity or IT talent at EDC and Tech San Diego’s Tech Career Night: Industry Interactive. Join us Tuesday November 15, 4:00 – 6:00 pm, at San Diego State University. →Reach out to Andrea Crisantes at acs@sandiegobusiness.org
Promote your open mid-level roles in San Diego: Life. Changing.‘s monthly job newsletter, The Lead, sent to over 3K STEM and business talent in San Diego and other competitor metros. → Submit your role to communications@sandiegobusiness.org for consideration.
Connect with entry-level software, engineering, business, and other San Diego talent: Use Advancing San Diego’s Preferred Provider map to identify industry-recognized training programs. → Sign up for email updates to learn about upcoming opportunities to connect.
Connect with San Diego Workforce Partnership (SDWP) to learn about worker training services. As workflows shift and skill requirements change, SDWP helps employers retain their existing workforce to meet their evolving needs. → Learn about SDWP’s layoff aversion help and no-cost worker training.
Connect with San Diego’s K-12 population early to communicate the breadth of career opportunities and build a more inclusive economy. Engage students at the K-12 level via:
Through two rounds of competitive application processes, the following education providers have been designated Preferred Providers of Cybersecurity and IT Talent, recognition from industry for their work in most effectively training the entry-level local workforce:
Through the CyberHire program, participants enrolled in the Preferred Provider programs receive industry-verified certification in A+ and Network+ or Security+ along with career counseling and wrap-around services from the San Diego Workforce Partnership.
If you are a San Diego business interested in hiring CyberHire participants to fill your entry-level IT and Cybersecurity roles,contact us. Through funding provided by the James Irvine Foundation, the San Diego Workforce Partnership will:
Place program participants in paid internships.
Subsidize wages for on-the-job training.
Host events for employers to meet CyberHire participants and showcase career opportunities at their companies.
About CyberHire: Presented by The James Irvine Foundation, CyberHire aims to transition unemployed, underemployed, and low-wage workers to quality Cybersecurity careers. CyberHire will help San Diegans launch a meaningful career that allows them to support themselves and their families.
Presented by Meyers Nave, this edition of San Diego’s Data Bites covers March 2022, with data on employment and more insights about the region’s economy at this moment in time. Check out EDC’s Research Bureau for even more data and stats about San Diego.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
San Diego employers added 8,000 nonfarm payroll positions between February and March, lowering the unemployment rate to 3.4 percent from a revised 4.0 percent from one month ago.
Compared to March 2021, total nonfarm employment increased by 103,600, or 7.4 percent. 49,900 additional jobs in Leisure and Hospitality led year-ago employment gains, with Professional and Business services adding 20,600 positions.
Employment in San Diego lags pre-pandemic levels by only 14,000 jobs, with Leisure and Hospitality accounting for 9,000 missing payroll positions. However, industries in San Diego’s innovation economy are well ahead of where they were before COVID-19.
Unemployment rate drops below four percent in March 2022
The March employment report showed that San Diego establishments added 8,000 nonfarm payroll positions compared to February, with 5,000 of these jobs in Leisure and Hospitality. State and Local Government was the next-closest industry experiencing employment gains, with 2,000 additional jobs. These additions to San Diego’s economy drove the unemployment rate lower by 0.6 percentage points, from a revised 4.0 percent in February to 3.4 percent in March.
Health Care and Social Assistance lost the most jobs between February and March, dropping 1,300 payroll positions. Although Ambulatory Health Care Services accounted for 1,100 of the lost jobs, the industry employed more people in March 2022 compared to pre-pandemic levels in February 2020. These lost jobs could be the result of lower transmission and infection rates of COVID, requiring fewer employees to manage workloads.
Leisure and Hospitality continues to lead year-ago employment gains
Overall, San Diego employers added 103,600 nonfarm payroll positions from March 2021 to March 2022. Leisure and Hospitality accounted for 49,900 of these jobs, which is not surprising considering that companies in this industry cluster were the hardest hit by the pandemic. The fact that businesses engaged in Accommodation and Food Services are adding more jobs with each new jobs report is a sign that San Diego is recovering well from the troughs of the pandemic. Furthermore, not a single one of the industry clusters that the EDD tracks (e.g. Leisure and Hospitality and Professional and Business Services) showed year-ago jobs losses, providing further evidence of the steady recovery of San Diego’s economy back to pre-pandemic levels. Professional and Business Services added 20,600 positions to San Diego’s economy, a 7.9 percent increase over last year’s levels. As part of San Diego’s innovation economy, industries such as Scientific Research and Development Services tend to be comprised of quality jobs, those that offer economic security by paying a wage that keeps up with the cost of living and providing employer-sponsored health benefits. Some sub-industries, however, did shed jobs compared to a year ago, such as Nursing and Residential Care Facilities (down 2,300 jobs) and Durable Goods manufacturing (down 2,000 jobs).
Employment in San Diego lags pre-pandemic levels by only 14,000 jobs
San Diego’s total nonfarm employment ended March 2022 at 1,501,100 jobs, which is 14,000 shy of pre-pandemic levels in February 2020. Although employment in Leisure and Hospitality is still 9,000 jobs lower than before COVID-19, this industry cluster has consistently led the pack in each monthly jobs report, meaning that pre-pandemic levels are just within reach. This is a strong indicator of the region’s economic recovery and health, as Accommodation and Food Services companies were the hardest hit by the pandemic.
Employment in other industry clusters, including those that drive San Diego’s innovation economy, has already surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Professional and Business Services has added almost 20,000 positions to the region’s economy from February 2020, with 7,300 of these jobs belonging to Scientific Research and Development Services. Jobs in these industries often have a high concentration of high paying quality jobs. The record year that San Diego experienced with respect to venture capital—especially in Tech and Life Sciences companies—should result in even more hiring by these companies throughout 2022.
However, the economic stimulus over the course of the pandemic has resulted in the highest inflation seen for quite some time, with the 12-month inflation rate reaching 8.5 percent in March. This led the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates by 25 basis points, with expectations of more to come. These expectations have translated into a decreased appetite for borrowing and investment, slowing the record pace at which San Diego is attracting venture capital dollars.
In fact, investment in Series A, seed, angel, and growth stages totaled just over $1 billion in Q1 2022, a far cry from the $2.7 billion in Q1 last year. Though the rate at which money is flowing into San Diego Tech and Life Sciences companies is slowing, the region will feel the ripple effects of the record-setting year in 2021 for some time to come. For example, the current demand for lab space in San Diego County is triple the amount of new deliveries that are expected in the next 12 months. As these Life Sciences companies move into new commercial space in the region, they will need to hire for newly created positions, many of which are high-paying quality jobs.
However, San Diego companies across all industries are engaged in a bitter competition for talent. Not only do high levels of inflation make San Diego a more expensive place to live, but a white-hot housing market has sent home prices through the roof, with the median home price reaching $950,000 in March, a 19 percent increase from one year ago. This high cost of living in San Diego is a tax that deters talent from staying in or relocating to the region. By addressing San Diego’s affordability crisis and building San Diego’s talent pipeline, employers can do their part to bolster the region’s resiliency and global competitiveness.
Presented by Meyers Nave, this edition of San Diego’s Data Bites covers January and February 2022, as well as an additional update on annual benchmark revisions, with data on employment and more insights about the region’s economy at this moment in time. Check out EDC’s Research Bureau for even more data and stats about San Diego.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
San Diego’s unemployment rate dropped by 0.7 percentage points–from a revised 4.7 percent in January to 4 percent in February–with nonfarm employment increasing by 16,500 payroll positions.
Employers in the region added more than 104,000 payroll positions since February 2021–with Service Providing industries accounting for 102,600 of the added jobs–lowering the unemployment rate by 3.7 percentage points.
Annual benchmark revisions to employment data show that the region’s economy was recovering more rapidly than initially believed. Specifically, revisions to nonfarm employment for December 2021 improved the jobs count by more than 40,000 workers.
Service Providing industries lead month-ago and year-ago changes
February’s jobs report painted a positive picture for the San Diego regional economy. With respect to changes from January to February, nonfarm employment increased by 16,500, driving the unemployment rate lower to 4 percent from a revised 4.7 percent in January. Service Providing industries led the pack in employment gains, as Professional and Business Services added 6,100 jobs, Educational and Health Services added 4,800 jobs, and Leisure and Hospitality added 4,200 jobs. Trade, Transportation, and Utilities dropped 2,700 jobs, however, with employers in Retail Trade shedding 2,300 payroll positions. Manufacturing industries also had a down month, with losses of 1,000 jobs in Durable Goods production.
Service Providing industries were also the leaders in year-ago employment gains from February 2021, adding more than 104,000 jobs to the region. The slow and steady employment gains over the last year have resulted in the unemployment rate dropping by almost four percentage points from a revised 7.9 percent in February 2021 to 4 percent in February 2022. Within the Service Providing sector, Leisure and Hospitality added 52,700 positions, which is a good sign of recovery as these companies were the hardest hit during the pandemic. Employers in Professional and Business services also added 21,100 payroll positions, 9,300 of which were in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services. These gains were not felt across all industries, however, as Durable Goods manufacturing lost 1,900 jobs from February 2021.
February employment inches closer to pre-pandemic levels
Looking at changes from February 2020 to February 2022 shows that the region is getting ever closer to pre-pandemic levels, a good sign for the recovery of San Diego’s economy. Total nonfarm employment is only about 25,000 (1.64 percent) lower than before the pandemic. Over half of these missing jobs are in Leisure and Hospitality, as the industry shows 14,000 fewer jobs in February 2022 than the same month in 2020, a gap of around 7 percent. Durable goods manufacturing is also exhibiting signs of a slower recovery with 6,200 fewer payroll positions than before the pandemic, or about 7 percent lower.
Despite some industries still playing catch-up, many have surpassed pre-pandemic employment levels. Professional and Business Services employers have added 19,300 payroll positions since February 2020, an increase of 7.4 percent. Notably, Administrative and Support and Waste Services have added 11,000 jobs (up 12.4 percent) while Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services have increased employment by 8,900 (up 6.05 percent). Speaking to San Diego’s position as a leader in Innovation and Life Sciences, companies in Scientific Research and Development Services have added 7,300 jobs since the start of the pandemic, an increase of more than 20 percent. With a hiring frenzy in innovation-related industries in full force, it is imperative for our region’s competitiveness that we continue to bolster the supply of the skilled labor that San Diego companies demand.
Annual revisions show employment was greater during 2021 than first believed
Every March, the California Employment Development Division works with the Bureau of Labor Statistics to revise employment data, a process called benchmarking. Depending on the year and the difficulties in gathering accurate employment data, these revisions might be significant. For reasons that should be unsurprising by now, 2021 was one such year.
What is striking about these revisions is the increasing underestimation of employment throughout 2021. Although January’s revised employment count was only about 500 greater than original estimates, the number had grown to 40,600 by December 2021. Put another way, original estimates were about 3 percent lower than the revised numbers. While this may seem like a trivial distinction, it does indicate that San Diego’s economic recovery was even stronger than originally believed. In fact, the industries that were most impacted by the pandemic reported some of largest upward revisions.
Leisure and Hospitality had 14,600 more jobs in December 2021 with the revised numbers (an upward revision of 8.7 percent), being driven by 8,500 jobs in Accommodation and Food Services (an upward revision of 5.8 percent). Revisions increased the employment count in Professional and Business Services by 12,100 (an upward revision of 4.5 percent), largely attributable to changes in Administrative and Support Services (an upward revision of 7,400, or 8.7 percent). All industries did not show an increase due to the annual revisions, however. Employment in Construction was lowered by 2,900 jobs (a downward revision of 3.4 percent) while the jobs count in Retail Trade was decreased by 2,100 jobs (a downward revision of 1.4 percent).
The EDC team just 
