Ohio Cities Named Top Small Tech Talent Markets

This report is a summary of third-party economic research and perspectives to foster communication with business and economic development stakeholders during the COVID-19 crisis.

Key Economic Insights

• Global: 13.3% of the world population is fully vaccinated.
• U.S.: The shortest U.S. recession on record officially ended in April 2020.
• Ohio: Columbus (#1), Cincinnati (#7), and Cleveland (#8) were ranked in the top 10 small tech talent markets by CBRE. Dayton named a ‘top emerging market’ for technology talent.

Global Insights

26.8% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 13.3% is fully vaccinated.  Developing countries in Southeast Asia are turning to Western vaccines.  Pfizer and BioNTech will partner with South Africa’s Biovac Institute to produce and deliver more than 100M doses of the Covid-19 vaccine annually to African nations.  Job vacancies in the UK surpassed pre-pandemic levels in the three months to June.

The European Commission has proposed that car makers cut carbon dioxide emissions by 55% by 2030 and 100% by 2035; also proposed legislation that would accelerate installation of public charging points on major roads by 2025.  Japan’s exports rose 48.6% in June from a year earlier led by U.S. demand for cars and China-bound shipments of chip-making equipment.  Taiwan’s June export orders jumped 31.1% from a year earlier, marking the 16th month of expansion.  OPEC+ reached a deal aimed at increasing oil production in an effort to ease pressure on gas prices and inflation. The U.S. and Germany reached an agreement to allow completion of the $11B Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

U.S. Insights

55.9% of the US population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 48.4% is fully vaccinated. The Delta variant has pushed COVID-19 cases higher in every state, causing some local officials across the U.S. to reimpose mask rules. The Biden Administration extended non-essential travel restrictions with Canada and Mexico through August 21.  The U.S. officially ended a recession in April 2020, concluding an economic contraction that lasted two months, making it the shortest on record. Economists expect continued growth through 2021, fueled by job gains, pent-up savings and continued fiscal support.  In the longer term, they foresee the expansion gradually cooling down to a more stable post-pandemic pace in the second quarter of 2022.

New weekly jobless claims moved higher, totaled 419,000 for the week ended July 17, higher than the estimate of 350,000 new applications.  Business applications for June decreased 9.8% vs. May 2021, according to The U.S. Census Bureau.  June retail sales rose 0.6% to $621.3B vs. May and were up 18% compared with February 2020.  U.S. homebuilder confidence fell in July to its lowest level since August 2020, driven by shortages in both supply and labor.  U.S housing starts increased more than expected in June, rising 6.3%, while permits for future homebuilding fell 5.1%.  U.S. consumer sentiment fell sharply and unexpectedly to 80.8 in early July to the lowest level in five months as inflation worries dented confidence in the economic recovery.

About 500,000 direct hotel operations jobs lost during the pandemic in the U.S. will not have returned by the end of the year, according to a new study.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing up to $200M in relief to timber harvesting and timber hauling businesses that have experienced losses due to COVID-19 as part of the Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative.  Biden administration officials reported signs of relief for the global semiconductor supply shortage, including commitments from manufacturers to make more automotive-grade chips for car companies that have had to idle production.

Software giant Salesforce officially closed on its $27.7B record acquisition of messaging app Slack Technologies, as the company bets big on a digital work-from-anywhere future. Zoom bought cloud call center firm Five9 for $14.7B.  Tesla plans to open the company’s network of DC fast-charging stations for its electric vehicles to other types of electric vehicles in 2021.  GlobalFoundries plans to build a new fab in Upstate New York, creating more than 1,000 new direct high-tech jobs to support U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.

Ohio Employment & Economic Insights

48.6% of Ohioans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination according to data reported to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), with 45.5% being fully vaccinated.  Columbus (#1), Cincinnati (#7), and Cleveland (#8) were ranked as top 10 small tech talent markets by CBRE.  Dayton named a ‘top emerging market’ for technology talent.  Businesses based in Columbus are seen as the most friendly to fully remote positions, according to a study done by Telstra Ventures.

The Department of Commerce has awarded a $385,000 grant intended to help minority businesses in the Cleveland area and around Ohio.  UnitedHealthcare is awarding $200,000 in Empowering Health grants to two community-based organizations in Ohio to expand access to care and address the social determinants of health for uninsured individuals and underserved communities.  Procter & Gamble, Progressive, American Electric Power, Sherwin-Williams, Kroger, Fifth Third Bancorp, KeyCorp, Cincinnati Financial, Parker Hannifin, and Welltower were named the ten most profitable companies in Ohio.

Resources

• Ohio Department of Health’s COVID-19 Website: coronavirus.ohio.gov
• JobsOhio’s resource portal and information about Open, Secure Supply Chains in Ohio.