MILWAUKEE – Employment numbers haven’t reached pre-pandemic levels yet so far, the State’s getting a bigger surplus than initially thought and the number of electric cars is on the rise.
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce President Tim Sheehy joins Wisconsin Afternoon News discussing the employment numbers in Metro Milwaukee, the budget surplus and the future of electric cars.
According to Sheehy, there were 880,000 people employed in the Metro Milwaukee area pre-pandemic. Right now that number sits at 845,000, about 78 percent of the pre-pandemic number and Sheehy says the growth is slowing.
“It’s not slowing because there aren’t jobs there, it’s slowing because we’re having a challenge filling those,” Sheehy says. “So I think we’re going to end the year at 80 percent; still well short of where we were pre-pandemic.”
He says “if you can and need to work, I don’t know why you won’t.” He adds that jobs are coming with “more flexibility, higher pay package and good career progression.”
“Wisconsin has a demographic issue,” Sheehy says. “Only 1 percent growth in the working age population between now and 2040; that’s a challenge for employers and a great opportunity for people who want to work.”
Wisconsin was expected to get a more-than-5-billion-dollar surplus but that number has recently risen to over $6.5 billion.
“Every 2 years Wisconsin collects about $42 billion in tax revenue,” Sheehy says. “The expectation is to collect another 15% or 6.6 billion on top of 1.7 billion rainy day fund.”
Sheehy says that leaves questions for the legislative leadership and the governor, “how much of this is one time and how much is ongoing,” Sheehy asks.
He says he knows a few of the hot topics will be “healthcare, k-12 education, the UW system and tax relief.”
“It’s a really good time to be in Wisconsin with the fiscal numbers that have shown up today,” Sheehy says.
The conversation ended with a chat about electric cars in Milwaukee, a trend Sheehy says they’ll be watching for “the next decade.”
With the number of electric cars cruising in the Untied States looking to jump from the 1 percent (2.5 million) of total cars (250 million) it’s at now to 10 percent (25 million) by 2030, Sheehy says charging stations will be a problem.
“There are bout 140,000 places you can get a charge [across the country]. In the Milwaukee area, the best I can tell there are about 30, so it’s really disproportionate.”