This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Local Voices

Hiring and the city...

Democrats just claimed victory for another reduction in unemployment. With 120,000 jobs added this past quarter, we continue to move towards economic recovery. Many credit the improvement to the large number of Baby Boomers retiring. There is strong data to support this argument.

An interesting statistic in Hartford. According to the census, 22% of the Greater Hartford area (Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford and other surrounding towns) will retire in the next 5 years, leaving an incredible hiring need emerging. More interesting is, many of the top 20 largest businesses in Hartford have shared with us (Atlantic Social Club) that their retirement rate over the next 5 years is between 36 to 40%. This is creating a huge need in our market to attract and retain new professionals.

Currently, our track record is not so good. Some statistics show as many as 78% of young professionals leave the Hartford area within 2 years of arriving. Hartford is host to the lowest percentage of millennials (people aged 16-36) in the entire country. Our goal at Atlantic Social Club has certainly been to give companies a hiring and retention edge, but we are certainly just the beginning. 

Our community is rich in history and culture. It's imperative that we work together to share the riches of this community. We are more than great bars and restaurants, we are a community steeped in literary history, financial institutions, some of the most incredible thinkers in the aerospace industry, we have incredible theaters (from Playhouse on Park to The Bushnell) that offer creative venues as well as a little slice of Broadway, the Wadsworth, The New Britain Museum of American Art.... the list is so much longer.

Mark Wahlberg recently said, "Welcome to New England, where the people are real and the landscape is beautiful."

So why, is a write in survey of 100 millennials in the suburbs of Hartford, was the number 1 complaint (more than 90% of those surveyed) "There is nothing to Do?" If you're involved in the city, you know that's not the case. As we work to bring more and more young people from college campus to the Greater Hartford area, our challenge needs to be to better connect them to our community, each other, and what we have to offer. Whether you leverage Atlantic Social Club or don't, I believe the movement starts with all of us.

On a side note: the second highest concern was affordable housing and the third was crime.

Kudos to the Department of Economic Development for investing in developers who are creating over 1500 smaller apartments geared at recent grads with more to come in subsequent years.

From a crime perspective, kudos to the West Hartford police (and others) for their partnership with Hartford. At Atlantic Social Club, we insure every event is manned with someone checking everyone in and insuring the event goes smoothly for our members. Hartford mounted patrol and bike patrol can be seen downtown regularly and West Hartford has mastered the art of a ubiquitous police presence. Last year, Hartford had one of the best crime rates in 30 years. Don't you think that should be splashed on a billboard somewhere? 

All in all, there is so much good going on. We believe the Hartford area is poised for a great economic resurgence - but it takes us all. Let's continue to encourage our children and employees to get involved. The millennial generation is where we need to start. They are a larger group than the Boomers and spend more money! By helping our teams discover our community and build connections to it, we give them more reasons to stay - with us and in our towns.



Atlantic Social Club of CT is an exclusive membership club focused on helping businesses attract and engage their employees while focusing on wellness, leadership, connection and teamwork. We create 15 events a month within a 7 mile radius of Hartford and because of our value, have become a employee benefit for choice employers in the Hartford market. Visit us atAtlanticSocialClub.com

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?