Menu Close

Missouri, A New Hub For Millennial Workers

  • August 23, 2016

insight2

There are currently an estimated 80 million millennials in the U.S. By 2020 it is predicted that they will make up 50 percent of the active workforce.

Gone are the days of millennials migrating towards the east and west coasts. Cities like San Francisco and Portland, which were once magnets for the millennial generation, have seen their cost-of-living skyrocket in recent years. Today, many 20 to 30 somethings are looking to the center of the country as the new place to live, work and play.

Many of these millennials are finding their way to Missouri, with its low cost-of-living, high quality of life and world-class colleges and institutions. Missouri cities like Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis are all seeing enormous growth in their college educated, millennial population.

Bloomberg recently named St. Louis the No. 1 city in America for millennials after seeing a growth of more than 130 percent in millennial migration to the city since 2010. Additionally, a new report by the American Institute for Economic Research named Columbia, Missouri the No. 6 small city in the nation for educated millennials.  While Kansas City’s booming tech and art scenes, abundance of attractions and outstanding quality of life are making it a prime choice for millennials to live and work.

These millennials are bringing with them a wide range of talent and an innovative mindset that Missouri businesses are taking full advantage of. Edward Jones, World Wide Technology, Burns & McDonnell and Build-A-Bear Workshop, where millenials currently make up more than 75 percent of the workforce, were each named in Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Workplaces For Millennials.”

With more and more millennials choosing Missouri everyday, companies are following suit in order to tap in to the educated talent pool available. Companies like Square choosing to expand into Missouri while existing companies such as Monsanto and Boeing are putting in the extra effort to attract top millennial talent to their workforce. Additionally, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency named millennials as one of the key reasons they chose to build their new western headquarters in St. Louis.

With the coming retirements of baby boomers and more millennials entering the workforce everyday, Missouri is quietly becoming a new hub for the youthful generation. Their talent and innovative new ideas are primed to take Missouri companies into the future, and will no doubt continue to make Missouri a place where companies come to grow and thrive.