Since we rolled out the Hot Jobs-Cool Community report, we've used terms like "Cool Communities" and "Next Generation Communities" interchangeably to describe the cities and regions that attract young talent. How do we determine the "coolest" cities for young talent and how can your community measure itself? Following is one of the seven indexes we use to determine your community's attractiveness to young talent.
NOTE: We determine your community's scores in the Earning index with two sets of data: (1) quantitative (numbers and stats) and (2) qualitative (focus groups.) Here are the things to look and listen for....
EARNING
Time Magazine reported in April 2001 that by the time they're 32, Gen X'ers (b. 1961-1981) have had 9 jobs. When choosing a community, young talent aren't looking for ONE company for whom they'll work the rest of their career. They're looking for a breadth and depth of occupational options.
They're also looking for communities that are friendly to start-ups. The US Small Business Administration estimates that 4 out of 5 new businesses are started by women, X'ers, and minorities.
To achieve a high score in the Earning index, ask yourself:
- What is our commitment to entrepreneurs and start-up companies?
- How many patents have been received in your community in the last three years?
- Do your companies have Alumni Networks, and invite former employees to come back to their companies?
- How diverse is our economy? Are we recession-proof?
- Must young professionals move to another community to pursue a different career aspiration, or does our economy offer a breadth and depth of options?
Note: Small businesses and entrepreneurs are key to economic recovery.
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