Large-scale layoffs at US tech companies – including more than 58,000 cuts in January alone – and recession fears paint bleak US employment prospects
However, not here.
That’s even according to 3M Co., which owns a 95,000-square-foot. plant south of Pittsboro, was the latest company to announce layoffs. In that case, 3M said two weeks ago it would cut 2,500 manufacturing jobs — just over 2.6% of its workforce — after profits fell to $541 million from $1.34 billion last fiscal year was.
The company did not say where jobs would be lost. With interest rates rising and a widespread slowdown in the housing boom that’s fueled the economy since the mid-2020s, the Chatham plant — which produces materials used to make asphalt shingles — could be a target.
200,000 jobs gone
3M isn’t alone: Rising interest rates, inflation, and a retreat from a pandemic-induced hiring spree have prompted some of the country’s biggest tech companies to cut payrolls. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recently announced that it will cut 12,000 jobs — about 6% of its workforce. It joined Amazon (18,000), Facebook parent Meta (11,000), Microsoft (10,000), Twitter (4,000) and IBM (3,900) in job cuts.
According to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks the tech industry, tech companies have shed nearly 200,000 jobs since early 2022. Many of those 58,000 layoffs in January came from companies experiencing a hiring frenzy in the second half of 2020 and 2021.
“We were hiring for a different economic reality than the one we face today,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a note to employees posted on the company’s website.
Another reality here
But that’s technology. The reality in Chatham County is different, county observers claim — and it’s not just because of VinFast’s and Wolfspeed’s large-scale hiring plans here.
“Our existing industries, along with those across NC, have some challenges in attracting workers,” said Michael Smith, the president of the Chatham Economic Development Corporation. “We continue to work with Central Carolina Community College and the school system to find ways to educate the public about what jobs are available and the free training that is available to help people gain new skills, to then work for a number of our industries here in Chatham County.”
VinFast, an electric vehicle maker, and Wolfspeed, which makes semiconductors — and their joint 2022 announcements bringing $9 billion in investment and 9,000 new jobs planned here — are just part of Chatham’s 2023 formula, he said he. In addition to the CCCC’s workforce training, the county benefits from the large number of four-year colleges and universities in close proximity, highly qualified military personnel, the Ft. Bragg and new residents looking for opportunities. You help to make the region and the country attractive for HR professionals.
“North Carolina has gained the third most new residents [in the U.S.] in 2022 and we don’t see a reversal,” Smith said. “The new jobs we’ve announced, our great quality of life here in Chatham County, the Chatham County school system, the award-winning CCCC, and the growth that is to come in the years to come – these are all positive reasons for our citizens to be hopeful.” for this new year.”
“The Brightest Horizon”
Still, the new jobs projected for Chatham (excluding 300 at the FedEx fulfillment center under construction near VinFast’s future home) are certainly a boost and a hedge in the years to come. Mike Fox, the President and CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, paints a sunny employment picture – starting this year.
“We see the brightest horizon for Chatham County and the Carolina Core region in 2023,” he said. “With state and national attention given to a record-breaking year of job attraction and capital investment, Chatham County’s job opportunities are better known than ever.”
Economist Mike Walden, Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus at NC State, told News+Record he is forecasting a “mild and short” recession in late 2023 and he sees the local unemployment rate “rising between 1 and 2 percentage points. ”
It’s a jump he described as “very modest.”
“Long-term economic growth in the Triangle region — including Chatham County — is still very robust,” Walden said.
The thrust of the core
The county benefits from being part of the Carolina Core, a 120+ mile stretch of central North Carolina that extends west from Winston-Salem to Fayetteville along future Interstate 685. It includes Greensboro and High Point, is in close proximity to Charlotte and the Research Triangle, and is home to four megasites – including Moncure’s Triangle Innovation Point, where VinFast will build, and Chatham Advanced Manufacturing Site in Siler City, where Wolfspeed’s newly named John Palmour Manufacturing Center for Silicon Carbide will be located.
Fox believes the attention of Chatham’s record-breaking announcements and the innovation that VinFast and Wolfspeed will drive will keep interest and focus on Chatham and the region for years to come.
“I think existing companies there will benefit from the talent and suppliers that these two ‘mega-projects’ can attract,” Fox said.
“We’re hearing from the state that North Carolina’s pipeline of potential new businesses is strong, and with well-positioned industrial properties like the Chatham-Siler City Advanced Manufacturing site” — where 1,700 acres remain available for development — “there’s no reason to doubt that other employers will be attracted to Chatham County’s excellent location and business environment,” he added. “While we hear that recruiting and retaining talent remains a concern for our employers, we know that growing the region’s economy, particularly with innovative technology employers, is the path to continued prosperity for our region.”
The Role of the CCCC, Universities
Like Smith, Fox noted the contributions of nearby community colleges and universities — each responding in their own way to the state’s positioning in the labor market.
They’re also working to “attract talent to their programs, some of which have been developed with these innovative new employers,” Fox said. And while massive projects like VinFast and Wolfspeed are driving training programs, there’s no reason, he said, “that other local employers couldn’t benefit from the new and growing training programs for Chatham County.”
“Any time we invest resources in educating our residents,” Fox said, “it’s an investment that will pay off in both the short and long term.”
dr Lisa Chapman, the president of CCCC — which has offices in Chatham, Lee and Harnett counties — said she doesn’t see the broader impact of the layoffs in the technology sector, noting the immediate staffing needs of some local and regional businesses.
“Our region has a variety of employers who have talent needs now and have talent needs forecasts for the future,” she said. “The projects [VinFast, Wolfspeed] will of course include the growth of various suppliers, but on top of that we have a growing biotech sector as well as ongoing needs in the construction and logistics industries. Healthcare professionals are also still needed in our region.”
Chapman added it’s important to recognize that the CCCC footprint has “strong established employers who have called this region their home for many years and have excellent careers for our local residents to get involved in.”
“Most of these careers require education and training beyond high school, but not all require the same type of eligibility,” she said. “We want to make sure our community is aware of these opportunities and is ready to participate. The college works with our secondary and university partners to provide the educational options needed.”
human resource development
According to Cindy Poindexter, President of the Chatham Chamber of Commerce, the commitment of the CCCC and Chatham County schools to adding value to human resources development can only help shape Chatham’s future in a positive way.
“Much of the work that needs to be done focuses on educating the public about the opportunities and training available and working with regional and local partners,” she said. “We all have to be part of the solution. Manufacturing jobs are a bit stigmatized, but these jobs offer great opportunities and room for advancement.”
The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5% in December. The Bureau of Labor Statistics put Chatham’s unemployment rate at just over 3% in December, up from 2.8% last January. It had peaked at 9.3% in April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused many businesses to close
Even so, the wage gap in Chatham — which contributes to the problem of affordable housing and high levels of food insecurity in some parts of the county — is dampening the employment picture, at least for now. Help: VinFast said its average annual wage will be $51,100, while Wolfspeed said its employees would make an average of $77,753 per year. Both are well above the existing median wages in western Chatham of around $41,600, which is more than $15,000 a year below the average wage across North Carolina.
Knowing that the job picture will improve and bring higher wages is even more reason to be optimistic.
“Chatham County has a lot to offer,” said Poindexter. “We have a bright future ahead of us.”
Bill Horner III can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @billthethird.
Comments are closed.