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Last week, UNCW regional economist Mouhcine Guettabi shared a teaser of his research on who is snagging local jobs and where they come from. It captures the share of workers hired in the Wilmington metro who were already living in the area and how it varies among sectors.
In the high-paying information sector, Geuttabi found just 15.6 percent of new hires in the first quarter of 2023 were already living in Wilmington. Other high-paying sectors also had a small share of local hires, like finance (25.7 percent), administration (26.2 percent), and utilities (15.2 percent). In all, most hires came from elsewhere in North Carolina, with most from Raleigh or Charlotte.
Unsurprisingly, the most popular sector for local hires was accommodation and food services—a sign of the area’s longstanding reputation as a tourist-dependent economy.
The data puts numbers behind a common local refrain that’s brewed for years: Big salaries tend to go to newcomers rather than locals.
That sentiment was partially in play in a class-action lawsuit settled last year that prompted nCino, Apiture, and Live Oak Bank to pay a combined $6.8 million. Joseph McAlear sued the companies in 2021, alleging they were artificially suppressing local wages in the financial technology sector with few other opportunities for local employment.
McAlear’s Live Oak Bank colleagues found it “remarkable” he had been hired from Wilmington, considering the firm almost exclusively recruited outside candidates, his suit alleged. McAlear applied to nCino in 2019 after meeting a recruiter at a conference, but the recruiter later emailed him to inform him of a “gentleman’s agreement” between the companies that they wouldn’t recruit each other’s employees. After questioning the no-poach agreement over a separate issue, McAlear said he was let go and had to relocate to the Triangle to find employment in his skillset.
The companies denied wrongdoing but the 2,000 or so employees from all three firms received settlement checks for the alleged wage suppression last year. nCino declined to comment on the latest local wage data and its hiring practices; Live Oak Bank responded but didn’t comment.
Companies that import talent aren’t doing anything new, and relocating for a job is perfectly normal. But the dynamic can create consequences—good and bad—like boosting a local economy with skilled newcomers or pricing out existing residents with soaring housing costs.
Over the past decade, the region’s economy has diversified and become less reliant on seasonal tourism. More recently, growth from the pandemic brought in people with deep pockets and spending power.
Guettabi was kind enough to share previews of his unpublished briefs and data sources with The Dive. While we don’t want to steal his thunder, his work centers on a concept he frequents in his economic development research: cui bono—who benefits?
“I think in general, it is really important to know not just how the labor market is doing but to develop a deep understanding of who benefits from the economic development and changing market, the extent to which long term residents are benefiting, what can be done to ensure that at least some of the gains are staying locally, and how to remain competitive in a landscape where both firms and people are increasingly footloose,” he said.
Compared to the nation and state, New Hanover County’s population has a smaller share of people under 18 and a larger share of people over 65. The county’s latest 2022 economic development report identified the area’s difficulty recruiting and maintaining young workers as one of six key limitations.
Local education systems have made strides recently to better align their programming with nearby opportunities, but it’s an ongoing challenge.
“I think there is no doubt that we are producers of talent that tends to leak to other parts of the state and country. Because, at least historically, there was a mismatch between the area’s industrial structure and the skills of the students coming out of UNCW,” Guettabi said. “I think that is slowly changing.”
UNCW spokesperson Sydney Bouchelle said nearly one-third of the university’s 109,000 alumni live in the region. She cited coastal engineering, health care, pharmaceutical chemistry, cybersecurity and biochemistry among programs the university curated to respond to local needs.
The local education pipeline for health care in particular has strengthened in recent years, boosted by community partnerships.
Megan Mullins, Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s chief marketing and engagement officer, said the chamber remains focused on upskilling locals and building a sustainable workforce pipeline at home. Last year, the city-backed Careers in Technology Apprenticeship Cohort enrolled 42 students using $2.5 million in pandemic funding to build a robust local tech workforce. Area employers hired 17 graduates of the program, Mullins said.
“Importing talent brings fresh perspectives, industry expertise, and economic benefits to our community—driving demand for housing, retail, and local services,” she said. “But the long-term goal is clear: Through education, workforce development programs, and strong industry partnerships, we are investing in Wilmington’s existing talent and empowering our workforce to grow alongside our employers.”
– Johanna F. Still
Good as Gold
Atkinson resident David Sullivan has again failed in his quixotic—admirable, even—legal attempt to skirt paying Pender County property taxes.
Earlier this month the N.C. Supreme Court ruled Sullivan had to fork over his past-due payments to the county. Sullivan’s legal argument centered on language in the U.S. Constitution that says no state shall require debt payments in anything but gold or silver coin, and therefore Pender County’s request for “paper money” was illegitimate. Sullivan first tried this defense, among others, in a separate case after the county attempted to place a lien on his property in 2011 after years of unpaid property taxes.
In 1871, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the U.S. had the authority to make paper money, backed by nothing, tender for debts. The N.C. Supreme Court cited this precedent in its blunt three-page ruling.
Sullivan’s arguments are rooted in sovereign citizen ideologies, an unrecognized movement whereby individuals declare themselves exempt from government authority. Valient as they may be, the arguments haven’t held up in U.S. courts.
