It’s hard to think of an issue that’s been discussed more in recent years than talent.
Usually, the “t” word is used interchangeably with “young professionals,” referring to 25-34 year-old college-educated men and women. Every U.S. city is competing for this demographic group, because they are highly-educated and entrepreneurial, but most of all, they are mobile. At a time when cities’ percentage of college-educated workers accounts for about 60 percent of economic success, every city is targeting the group most willing to pick up and move.
So far, about 15 cities – usually with a positive reputation and a thick labor market — are the big winners, soaking up most of the young professionals and leaving most U.S. cities in a battle to keep the ones they have while scratching to attract more. Among the 51 largest U.S. metros, between 2006-2012, the Memphis MSA fell from #36 to #46 in the percentage of the population who are 25-34 year-olds with college degrees.
Almost everyone has an opinion on why the Memphis region lags in the battle for talent, but finally, a poll by the PeopleFirst Partnership – part of Memphis Fast Forward – answers the question of what this key group thinks about Memphis and Shelby County. For the first time, organizations involved in attracting and retaining talent can now build plans based on the facts about young professionals’ likes and dislikes.
The Facts for a Change
The Yacoubian Research poll showed that:
* Nearly six in 10 young professionals gave a grade of “excellent” or “good” to overall quality of life in Memphis and Shelby County.
* Almost one in five said they are ‘very likely’ to recommend to their friends that they live here, and those with graduate degrees are twice as likely.
* Young professionals see the community’s major strengths as 1) family and friends, 2) downtown Memphis entertainment district, 3) overall cost of living, and 4) access to green spaces.
* Major weaknesses are 1) quality of K-12 schools, 2) access to safe/low-crime neighborhoods, and 3) availability of good-paying jobs.
The best ways to keep young professionals from leaving and to encourage their friends to move here are increasing the number of good-paying jobs, increasing access to safe neighborhoods, and improving K-12 schools.
Compared to their counterparts in national polls, Memphis young professionals are homebodies – 62% have lived here more than 20 years or for all their lives – and they are settled down – 56.1% are married and 26.3% have school aged children.
Meanwhile, U.S. Census Bureau data show that contrary to conventional wisdom, Memphis remains the place of choice for 25-34 year-old college-educated men and women. In fact, 57% of the 48,111 people in the MSA who make up this key demographic group live in Memphis – or 27,423 people. That compares to 11,088 who live outside of Memphis in Shelby County: Collierville has 2,652, Germantown has 2,180, and Bartlett has 2,287. Meanwhile, 5,159 young professionals live in DeSoto County.
The Big Opportunity
Too often, our civic response to attracting and retaining this group is to say that we need to do a better job of marketing to them, but if one thing is clear about this demographic, it is they are highly suspicious of institutional, top-down messages and that’s why campaigns to market to them so often fall flat.
Instead, the people whose opinions have the most influence with millennials are other millennials. That’s why images of millennials making waves, asking impertinent questions, and suggesting and showing there are different ways to do things have such impact. It’s also why we need to amplify all of the highly visible tactical urbanism and grassroots activities being led by young professionals and enable even more. More than anything, it sends a new and different message about Memphis to a group crucial to its future.
The PeopleFirst polling contained another nugget that suggested a $600 million economic development opportunity. According to the polling, 63% of young professionals in Memphis and Shelby County are white and 31% are African-American. In a county that is 53% African-American and in which 52% of 25-34 year-olds are African-American, it only makes sense that a key competitive advantage is for the Memphis region to be a hub of African-American talent.
It is in the closing of that gap – bringing the percentage of African-American young professionals to the same level as whites – that Memphis and Shelby County can have more wealth, more entrepreneurs, more disposable income, and more overall success. To do less is to pursue economic success in the future with one hand tied behind our backs.
This was previously published in Memphis magazine as the June City Journal column.
Thanks SCM for highlighting this report.
After reading the report myself I had more questions than answers.
When young professionals move into Memphis from where are they moving? Small-towns, other mid-sized cities from the surrounding region?
Low cost and family ties seem like a weak over all bench for having a vibrant type A personality entrepreneurial class. Having a city of “homebody” YPs only leads to insular inward focused thinking. Think good ole boy network….
The report also repeatedly highlighted the downtown entertainment district as important to YPs but a vibrant arts community was not that far behind. Again, the fact that a vibrant arts community was more important to natives than recent arrivals makes me wonder who is choosing to move here? YPs in big cities are obsessive about the arts: music, film, literature, theater and tech.
Of course good schools, well paying jobs and safe neighborhoods are important. I can’t imagine any body in any city not saying the exact same thing. So I don’t know how illuminating the report is in that respect.
Lastly, Atlanta is often thought of as the center of black America. Do we have any ideas on the % size of Atlanta’s black YP class verses their white YP class? I would assume it is larger as an overall percentage. Are there any lessons we can learn from Atlanta to help our own African American population to reach their full potential? What specifically can we do better?
Memphis young professionals are homebodies, but studies show smart people move around.
“The study’s overall takeaway? Smart people just don’t like to stay put.”
http://www.citylab.com/work/2014/07/the-smartest-people-move-into-and-out-of-cities/373760/
BS: We agree with you completely that low cost and family ties are a weak strategy for attracting and keeping talent, especially considering that some cities soaking up major amounts of talent are not low cost or low tax at all. They instead are making the public investments in quality of life, research universities, etc., that pull young professionals from everywhere. We also agree with your comment about insular thinking, which remains a problem for Memphis at large. We don’t know the percentages for Atlanta but there are lessons to be learned, particularly as it relates to minority business, entrepreneurs, etc.
Jane K: Generally speaking, smart people are moving to where other smart people live. Smart being people with college degrees.