The number of Wisconsin businesses having trouble finding workers dropped to its lowest level in a decade, according to the results of the latest Wisconsin Employer Survey conducted by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC). WMC is the combined manufacturers’ association and state chamber of commerce, representing businesses of all sizes and from every sector of the economy. The organization released some of the survey data in an Economy & Workforce report on Tuesday.
Just 63% of the respondents to the semiannual CEO survey said they were having trouble finding workers, down from 72% a year ago and 68% in summer 2024. The last time the percentage was this low was in the winter of 2015, when 63.9% of survey respondents said they were having trouble hiring.
Nevertheless, the labor shortage is still tied with health care costs as the top public policy issue facing Wisconsin, according to the survey. Rising health care costs came up several times in the survey. When asked “what is one thing [the] state government could do to help your business,” 41% of respondents said make health care more affordable, up from 30% in the summer.
The survey showed modest optimism on the current state of the Wisconsin and national economies. Just 26% say the state economy is strong, up from 22% a year ago. Sixty-eight percent say it is moderate, while 6% say it is weak. Only 18% rate the U.S. economy as strong, up from 10% a year ago. Sixty-one percent say it is moderate, and 19% rate it as weak.
The trend is even better on profitability. Eighty-five percent of respondents say their company was profitable in the last six months of 2024, and a robust 96% predict being profitable in the first six months of 2025.
As for an overall economic forecast, 63% say the Wisconsin economy will see growth in the first half of the new year, while 34% say it will remain flat. For the U.S. economy, 75% predict growth during the same time period, with 21% saying the economy will remain flat.
Read the full Economy & Workforce report here.
