Santa Cruz County 2021: State of the Workforce
The Santa Cruz County Workforce Development Board engaged BW Research Partnership to assess the State of the Workforce in 2020. This research comes at a crucial time as Santa Cruz County (the County) looks to rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. This State of the Workforce report provides a range of data on the current state of the economy in the era of COVID-19, as well as the underlying economy and workforce that preceded COVID-19 and its connection to the County’s recovery.
This research was produced using data from a range of public and proprietary data sources. Several datasets used in this report were produced specifically for tracking the impacts and outcomes of the pandemic. The analyses and discussion around secondary data were contextualized by executive interviews with representatives from the business and workforce community of Santa Cruz County.
KEY FINDINGS
While early data suggests that the recovery is already underway, the reorganization of the labor market due to the pandemic may present challenges to an expedient rebound.
The rise of remote work presents a challenge and an opportunity for Santa Cruz County.
Some of the County’s most vulnerable workers have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
Many businesses in the County have also been hit particularly hard. are used where they are needed most.
Before the pandemic, Santa Cruz County had seen areas of growth and advancement such as low unemployment, improvements in overall job quality, and growth in higher paying industry clusters.
There are several key industry clusters that showed strong growth going into the pandemic and resiliency through the pandemic. Clusters like Finance, Banking, Insurance, & Real Estate (FIRE), Building & Design, Healthcare, and Professional & Business Services offer a range of robust career pathways and opportunities for the local workforce already living in Santa Cruz County.
Some of the losses in Tourism, Hospitality, and Recreation may be the last jobs to return, if they fully return to their pre-pandemic levels at all.
While the tech industry in Santa Cruz County is relatively small, there is substantial opportunity for IT workers in industries outside of technology.
Santa Cruz County’s population and workforce are getting older, particularly in the North sub- region.