Key Takeaways from the 2023 Indiana Chamber Employer Survey

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce recently released the results of its16th annual employer survey. Notably, 68% of respondents felt that Indiana is headed in the right direction. While still a challenge, the results of this survey indicate that workforce readiness and retention is trending in the right direction. The percentage of employers reporting that the supply of qualified applicants doesn't meet their needs has dropped from 72% in 2021 to 52% in 2023. While 67% of respondents reported leaving jobs open in the past year due to underqualified applicants, this has dropped from 74% in 2022. Nonetheless, 42% indicated that attracting and retaining workers remains their biggest challenge.

Identifying the external factors negatively impacting talent attraction & retention, employers responded that childcare and housing were top issues. Despite this, only 13% reported either onsite childcare or an offsite partnership and only 7% reported some sort of childcare subsidy or reimbursement. The State Chamber pointed to a new $25 million Employer-Sponsored Childcare Fund and the adoption of policy recommendations by an interim study committee, but more time is needed to see whether business take advantage of this fund and whether the recommendations are adopted by the full legislature.

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