New report outlines ways to bolster Michigan’s tech industry as state struggles to retain talent ⋆

As Michigan legislators work to establish new jobs in electric vehicles and manufacturing, automakers are releasing the results of a new study to attract high-tech talent and business to Michigan. 

The report was published through a partnership between the MICHauto, an organization advocating for the state’s automotive, mobility and tech industry, and the Creative Class Group, an organization founded by urban theorist Richard Florida which advises its clients on topics including economic development and competitiveness.

Florida spoke Wednesday at the Mackinac Policy Conference.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at the 2022 Mackinac Policy Conference on June 2, 2022 | Allison R. Donahue

In 2022, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer provided MICHauto with a $2 million grant to support the growth of development and high-tech talent in Michigan. MICHauto’s high-tech talent strategy identified four streams to build and retain a flow of talent to the state and further Michigan’s image as a leader in tech and mobility. 

By building a student-to-talent-to-corporate pipeline, measuring perceptions and attracting employees from all backgrounds, analyzing the North American tech sector and growing technology industry clusters across Michigan, MICHauto seeks to promote efforts to grow Michigan’s tech industry. 

Florida’s study, “Michigan’s Great Inflection” identifies and studies regions across North America that are successfully attracting high-tech talent and business, compares them to Michigan, and provides recommendations on how the state can become more competitive. 

While the report identified opportunities for Michigan to leverage its automotive sector in the shift to electric vehicles, the development of autonomous vehicles and work on operating systems and software in vehicles. To ensure the state’s long-term prosperity, the report said Michigan must strengthen and align the capabilities of its leading corporations, universities and startups. 

The study also identified Michigan universities as a source of top-level talent. Michigan’s University Research Corridor — which is made up Wayne State University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan — produces more talent than leading clusters such as Boston-Cambridge, the San Francisco Bay Area and the North Carolina Research Triangle. 

Additionally, the study called the state’s lack of talent retention a myth, ranking the state seventh in the nation for its percentage of college and university graduates who remain in the state. Metro Detroit has the highest retention rate of two- and four-year college graduates than any other metropolitan area in the country. 

However, the state loses too much of the key talent it generates. While the state retains talent well, the report noted just a quarter of University of Michigan graduates in computer-related fields are working in the state five years after graduation, with 36% of them working on the West Coast. 

Michigan loses jobs to markets like Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas, because they have more jobs for computer scientists and engineers. Michigan also pays significantly less than jobs in those markets, ranking 19th in average wages for computer programmers in 2022.

During a panel at the conference on Mackinac Island, Florida weighed in on Michigan’s loss of computer science graduates. 

Urban studies theorist Richard Florida spoke at panel at the 2023 Mackinac Policy Conference alongside Anika Goss, chief executive officer of Detroit Future City and moderator Rip Rapson, president and CEO of the Kresge Foundation, May 31, 2023 | Kyle Davidson

“I want to say this gently and lovingly, because I love this state. But right now you are subsidizing your competition. You’re using Michigan taxpayer dollars to subsidize the coastal high-tech economy,” Florida said.

“Now, if I’m a youngster coming out of University of Michigan, Wayne State, Michigan Tech, MSU. I want a good job and a good place. So [we’ve got them] drifting for San Francisco or New York or wherever … I think I need to think about that and what would it take to keep them.”

In order to position the state for success, the report recommends the creation of a Michigan Economic Transformation Alliance. It said the alliance should be a multi-sector panel including leaders from the state’s business, startup, higher education, labor and civic communities, as well as other stakeholders. This alliance should organize itself around technological innovations in software, artificial intelligence, electric power and batteries, double down on talent attraction and retention efforts, and continue with placemaking efforts, working to grow and scale college towns and strengthen their connections to Detroit and other economic centers. 

According to the report, these recommendations will aid Michigan in creating a stronger economy that generates opportunity for residents across its many varied communities toward a future of sustainable and inclusive economic growth. 

With the release of the Great Inflection study, MICHauto said in a statement that it would use the report to develop policy objectives, and seek additional funding to build out pilot programs that are part of its high-tech talent strategy workstreams. It will also continue collaborating with other organizations supporting high-tech talent efforts, like the Michigan Electric Vehicle Jobs Academy and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC).

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authored by Kyle Davidson
First published at https%3A%2F%2Fmichiganadvance.com%2F2023%2F05%2F31%2Fnew-report-outlines-ways-to-bolster-michigans-tech-industry-as-state-struggles-to-retain-talent%2F