Nebraska's devastating floods will force workers to leave the Midwest in droves. Here's where they're expected to migrate
- Historic floods in Nebraska have slowed hiring across the Midwest, which could contribute to a net migration out of the region, LinkedIn found in its monthly Workforce Report.
- LinkedIn predicts that withing the coming months, workers will leave the Midwest to the South and West regions of the US - areas that Business Insider previously cited as the hottest regions for job seekers.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Finding a job in the Midwest is getting more difficult.
Midwestern cities not only saw hiring decrease this month due to natural disaster, workers are also expected to migrate out of the area at high rates, according to LinkedIn's Workforce Report for April 2019.
Record flooding in March devastated farmers in Nebraska and other parts of the Midwest, costing the area hundreds of millions worth in damages. The floods also had an adverse effect on jobs: Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; and Fargo, North Dakota, all saw significant decreases in hiring rates. Jobs in agriculture, one of the top industries in the region, bore the brunt of hiring slowdowns: the agriculture industry saw hiring drop 16.7% over the last two months.
Millennials could be hit hardest from this recent downtrend in agriculture job growth. The number of farmers aged 25 to 34 is increasing, according to the US Department of Agriculture, and approximately 69% of young farmers have college degrees.
Read more: The 30 hottest companies of the year, according to LinkedIn
As a result of the flooding, LinkedIn expects a net migration out of the area. After Hurricane Irma devestated Miami, migration out of the city increased 62.9% in the same calendar year. LinkedIn predicts just as significant of a migration out of the Midwest in the coming months to Southwest and West Coast cities like Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Seattle, and Phoenix.
Midwest cities that lost the most workers in the past 12 months include Lansing, Michigan; State College, Pennsylvania; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Wichita, Kansas. Wichita had the biggest population loss, with nearly 320 workers per every 10,000 people leaving the area in the past year.
Business Insider also found that between 2016 and 2017, Midwestern states lost the most people to domestic migration, or the number of people who moved into a state minus the number of people who left. The cities with the biggest influx of people and most job growth in 2018, meanwhile, were primarily located in the South and West Coasts.