Young workers fleeing region - CCOnline
Published on Saturday, November 15, 2008
From Cape Cod Online - for full story click here
By Sarah Shemkus
WEST BARNSTABLE — More than a third of Cape Cod's young workers expect to move away from the region within the next five years, according to a survey released yesterday by the Cape Cod Young Professionals.
More than half of those who plan to leave cited the need to find better job opportunities as the primary reason for their decision; 25 percent said they would leave to go somewhere with a lower cost of living.
How to keep them here
Survey respondents who planned to leave the Cape in the next five years were asked what could be done to make them more likely to stay in the area.
* More job opportunities/better-paying jobs: 66 percent
* Lower cost of living: 42 percent
* More affordable housing/lower rent: 25 percent
* Lower taxes: 17 percent
* Improve government: 14 percent
* Provide incentives for young people who want to live on the Cape: 5 percent
* Other: 2 percent
Source: Cape Cod Young Professionals Survey
"If we're going to lose these people at this high a rate, what does this mean for the future of our economy?" asked Gary Sheehan, founder of the young professionals group, as he presented the survey findings at yesterday's economic summit at Cape Cod Community College.
There has been much discussion about the importance of attracting and retaining younger workers since October 2007, when demographer Peter Francese warned that a failure to do so could have dire consequences for the area's economy.
The survey was sent to the group's 707 members; 184 respondents completed the questionnaire.
The results, therefore, are weighted towards people working in professional and business fields. Only 6 percent of respondents identified themselves as working in a trade, in a service role or in a blue collar position.
Regardless of this bias, the survey results are worrying, Sheehan said.
Analysis by research institute MassINC indicates that, once young people put down roots and get involved in their communities, they are much less likely to leave the area, explained Dana Ansel, the organization's research director.
And the young professionals survey showed a high level of civic engagement among respondents. More than three-quarters had voted in a recent local election and 65 percent had attended a town meeting or other public hearing.
The fact that so many young people are still planning to leave the region, Sheehan said, should cause considerable concern.
"That 35 percent of these people are considering leaving after that level of civic engagement really rings the alarm bells even more," he said.
