STATEWIDE (NETWORK INDIANA) — Indiana has a pile of economic problems that could drive potential policy decisions in the future from your elected lawmakers. That’s the assessment from the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s (PPI) Center for Civic Literacy in two reports from it’s 2024 election series.
One study focused on economic growth, while the other analyzed workforce innovation.
Overall, the studies found that Indiana lags behind in wage growth, has trouble keeping it’s own college students and grows your average hourly earnings far behind the national rate. Also, Indiana is more susceptible to losing jobs to automation as compared to every other state in the nation.
A Closer Look…
The PPI report shows Indiana managed to keep up with the rest of the United States when it comes to employment participation, but the Hoosier State’s average hourly earnings grew at less than half the national rate during 2023 (1.4-percent to 3.9-percent, nationwide).
When it comes to post-secondary recruitment, Indiana is 40th in the nation for keeping college students at it’s own universities.
A 2021 study cited by the PPI estimates Indiana could lose around 900,000 jobs to automation. Even as more companies move to Indiana to build data centers, electric vehicle battery plants and semi-conductor factories, that could potentially leave 168,000 highly skilled jobs (requiring specialized skills in science, math, and tech) in demand by 2028.
The PPI report says Indiana needs to refine it’s focus on recruiting and retaining companies and talent to grow it’s own industries in-house and boost the state’s labor numbers.
The Indiana University Public Policy Institute has three more reports set to be released before Election Day on November 5th. These reports are expected to cover healthcare, community resiliency, and the lack of public trust in institutions.
