Florida is where businesses want to be
Bottom Line: It’s not new or even news that record numbers of new Floridians are established every day. We’ve grown accustomed to hearing hundreds of new residents relocate here daily. Low taxes, great weather and pieces of paradise around every corner of our state. What’s not to love? More recently, though there’s been more to Florida’s story. Jobs. What used to be the knock on our state, that there just weren’t many good jobs available, has become the catalyst for many to come here well before retirement. Increasingly people have been flocking to Florida for great jobs. This has been evidenced during the pandemic as Florida’s unemployment rate, at 6.1% remains well below the national average of 6.7%. And the good news for Florida’s jobs will only continue to get better.
Business analytics firm West Monroe just wrapped up their first Executive Poll and summary for 2021 and the implications are many for Florida’s economy. Among the highlights...
- A record 25% of business executives are considering relocations due to taxes and regulations
- Florida is 2nd nationally in the states being targeted for relocations of these businesses
Look for 2021 to be another terrific year for businesses to relocate to our state. Incidentally, some other items to come out of the poll which aren’t specific to Florida but are telling in term of trends...
- 51% of employers intend on issuing COVID vaccine mandates for all employees to return to the workplace
- 49% of employers expect to hire more employees compared to only 7% who expect additional layoffs
While that’s generally good news, most companies don’t fully expect to turn the corner in their businesses until the 3rd quarter this year. Only 26% said they’ve already turned the corner. Still, on balance this survey looks exceedingly positive for Floridians as it’s clear we’ll continue to benefit from companies looking for greener and sunnier pastures.
Photo Credit: Philip Parker