New York’s a tough town. It’s gotten even tougher with its 10.6 percent unemployment rate.
But a surprisingly small number of mid- to senior-level job seekers in New York City—just 14 percent—are relocating elsewhere, according to a study released Wednesday, February 24, by career consulting firm Right Management.
This relocation number is up from the 11 percent reported in 2007, when the local unemployment rate was less than half of today’s and the city had more than 128,600 more jobs, according to the New York state Department of Labor.
“There’s this uniqueness of New York,” explained Ed Witherell, the New York market vice president of Right Management. “There is a great deal of opportunities, beyond your industry and beyond the function you may be performing.”
Witherell said the ranks of relocators is lower in New York than many people might expect because the city is home to scores of significant technology, publishing, financial, media and fashion companies, and individuals want to pursue the opportunities in their back yards. People are moving to New York for the same reasons.
The survey did not include information about job seekers coming to New York, or break down the areas of relocation by industry or demographics.
The relocation rate from New Jersey increased to 13 percent from 9 percent in the same period; meanwhile, 4 percent of job seekers are leaving Long Island, down from 7 percent in the last survey. The nation’s average of 15 percent remained constant.
Of the 27,000 individuals surveyed nationwide, 3,000 were from the Northeast.
Filed by Emily Laermer of Crain’s New York Business, a sister publication of Workforce Management.
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