"Young & Restless" Resource Page
Equinox Center has partnered with the San Diego Regional EDC to advance sustainability and quality of life issues that can help the region be more competitive in attracting and retaining young talent. Our collaboration kicked off with a joint convening of more than 100 regional business leaders for: "The Young & Restless: Winning the Race for America's Best Talent" featuring noted economist Joe Cortight of CEOs for Cities. Click here to learn more about this collaboration.
Below you can find key takeaways and downloads relating to strategies for the San Diego region to better attract and retain talented, college-educated 25-34 year olds, why doing so is vital to our region's economic prosperity and why at the end of the day, it's about quality of life.
If you're a young adult yourself, check out our Leaders 2020 group to have your voice heard on quality of life and sustainability issues in the region.
Downloads & Links:
- "Why Place Matters:" Equinox Center presentation to San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. Investor's Breakfast, April 2012 (see slideshow above or download extended version including Leaders 2020 poll results here)
- Equinox Center and EDC Press Release: Will San Diego Let Austin or Boston Win the Race for America's Best Young Talent?
- What Can You Do to Help the San Diego Region Win the Race for America's Best Talent?
- Economist Joseph Cortight's 9/14/11 San Diego presentation of new findings on "The Young & Restless"
Charts, Graphics & Video:
- Where is San Diego's Top Competition in Attracting Young Talent? (chart)
(Source: information and links to recent listings of "best cities in America for young people") - "Place Matters to the Young & Restless" (chart)
- "A Seismic Shift in Labor Markets" (chart)
- Hear from the Young & Restless themselves on why "place matters." (video)
Local Media Coverage About the "Young & Restless"
San Diego Needs to Do Better at Drawing Young Adults, 10/11/11 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego’s Innovation Economy, and What it Takes to Recruit “The Young and Restless,” 9/28/11 (Xconomy)
Economists Predict Future Labor Shortage, 9/14/11 (San Diego 10 News)
National Media Coverage and Reports Relating to the "Young & Restless"
America's Generation Y Not Driven to Drive, 7/1/2012 (Reuters)
Cities grow more than suburbs, first time in 100 years, 6/28/12 (Associated Press)
Talent Report: What Workers Want in 2012, June 2012 (Net Impact)
Why Young Americans are Driving So Much Less Than Their Parents, April 2012 (The Atlantic - Cities)
The Young & Restless in a Knowledge Economy, 2011 (CEOs for Cities)
Why Don't Young Americans Buy Cars?, 3/25/12 (The Atlantic)
Millenials Moving to Urban Centers, 3/5/12 (Realtor.com)
7 Lessons on Building a Startup Culture, 2/6/12 (Xconomy)
The Death of the Fringe Suburb, 11/25/11 (The New York Times)
Young Adults Choose "Cool Cities" During Recession, 10/28/11 (The Brookings Institution)
What's Next? Real Estate in the New Economy (see pages 40, 14, 73), December 2011 (Urban Land Institute)
Building a Better 'Burb, With Envy, 12/12/11 (The Atlantic)
Driving Has Lost its Cool for Young Americans, 12/27/11 (Grist.org)
No McMansions for Millenials, 1/13/11 (The Wall Street Journal)
Attracting and Retaining Bright Young Talent: Vital to the San Diego Region's Economic Prosperity
World-class
research institutions and spectacular weather drew the last generation
of entrepreneurs to the San Diego region, but it will take more than
that to attract America’s brightest young talent here today, say Equinox
Center and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation
(EDC). The two organizations convened more than 100 of the region’s
business and community leaders on September 14, 2011 to explore new
solutions to attract and retain young talent to the region.
Known by economists as the “Young & Restless,” young adults ages 25-34 are a unique demographic: well-educated, hard-working, entrepreneurial. They are an HR manager’s dream, the backbone of the San Diego region’s future innovation economy, and they are in short supply.
Why should San Diego care about recruiting the Young & Restless when our jobless rate still hovers over 10 percent? Research by noted economist Joseph Cortright, who presented at the September 14, 2011 Equinox Center/EDC event, shows that thanks to a perfect storm of population trends already underway, a seismic shift in American labor markets is almost upon us. As Baby Boomers retire, women’s labor market participation and overall educational attainment rates plateau, the surge in workforce participation that fueled our present-day labor surplus will be reversed. In its wake will be a labor shortage the likes of which our country hasn’t seen in more than 30 years.
That should be especially concerning to regions like San Diego, where our regional economic development strategy focuses on advancing an innovation economy. That means the region needs to attract not just any workers, but the country’s most well-educated, skilled and entrepreneurial ones.
Already today, thousands of skilled high-tech jobs for young people remain unfilled. Within a decade there will be many more, and across all of our region’s key sectors. Other metropolitan regions are already in hot pursuit of the Young & Restless, and new research by Equinox Center shows that the San Diego region’s stance among America’s most coveted places to live for young people is already slipping. Among nine recent national listings of the 10 best places to live for young adults, San Diego did not rank once.
(Click the image to download a high resolution version of this graphic.)
Why Aren’t We Attracting Young Adults to Our Region?
Change is afoot. Our region’s extraordinary quality of life is under threat. We have not adequately planned for growth. The consequence? A high cost of living, escalating traffic, rising energy and water costs, and compromised environmental health.
Place Matters.
College-educated young adults—the backbone of our region’s future innovation economy—prioritize quality of life in new ways:
Austin, Seattle, Boston, or San Diego?
What can San Diego do to create a future where economic and environmental priorities are equally balanced? One where our children and grandchildren will enjoy a thriving economy, pristine beaches and open spaces for recreation, quality housing within reach for everyone, a well-functioning transportation system, and intelligent use of our natural resources? How can we get the Young & Restless to choose San Diego over cities like Austin, Boston, Seattle or D.C?
Business as usual won’t get us there.
San Diego can and must do better. How can you be part of the solution?
While creating good jobs is a necessary piece of the puzzle, it is not enough. Investing in making San Diego America’s most desirable place to live for every generation is imperative to our future economic prosperity.
Equinox Center has identified the following critical priorities to help the region remain competitive by addressing quality of life issues of concern to you and to the Young & Restless. We need your support to do it.
1. Young & Restless: Your Voice Counts! Are you a San Diegan in your twenties or thirties concerned about the region's future? Take 1 minute now to sign a Call to Action to show our region's policy makers that you support a more sustainable path for the San Diego region.
2. Support or Join Leaders 2020, a new civic engagement initiative led by Equinox to harness the energy and ideas of San Diego’s young people into our region’s plans for growth.
-$10,000 will allow Equinox to perform game-changing research and analysis to answer questions about how our region can better compete on quality of life issues. For example, why do we have “brain drain” among young adults despite unfilled well-paying jobs here?
-$5,000 will allow Equinox to convene emerging leaders online and at one in- person workshop to learn about how to use our non-partisan research to weigh in on issues such as water, renewable energy, transportation, green jobs and open space.
-$3,000 will underwrite one local graduate student to become a Sustainability Fellow at Equinox, preparing the next generation of leaders with the skills to address our region’s growth challenges.
3. Advance Urgent Policy Solutions: In addition to needing more and younger voices at the table, we need to identify both proven and innovative solutions that work to address regional growth challenges. With your support, in 2011-12, Equinox will complete its critical research on water supply options, update its annual San Diego Regional Quality of Life Dashboard, and use this information to raise the visibility of sustainability issues during the 2012 election season by creating briefing materials and learning opportunities for voters and candidates alike.
Every day, our policy makers are finalizing long-term plans on these very issues. Our opportunity to ensure San Diego’s future competitive advantage is now.