As part of Leadership Minnesota, I have the opportunity to learn firsthand from business leaders across dozens of industries and sectors throughout our state. Recently, we sat down together to review the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s recent economic review and imperatives for growth, and it was eye-opening.
The Talent Challenge Facing Minnesota’s Growth
While Minnesota has long been a great place to build a career, a business, and a life, our ability to grow in the years ahead will increasingly depend on something every employer in our state should care about: our ability to retain and attract great people.
Minnesota’s labor force has grown by just 0.2% annually since 2019, and in 2025, the state had nearly two job openings for every one job seeker. Looking ahead, Minnesota’s workforce is projected to add only about 55,000 people over the next decade. Talent is an economic growth challenge here.
Why This Hits Close to Home for Versique
This message hits especially close to home with us here at Versique. We are a recruiting firm that’s proud to be Minnesota-based and Minnesota-focused, which holds us especially accountable for cultivating the phenomenal power of the local talent community. Our team lives here, works here, volunteers here, raises our families here, and works distinctly hard to build and connect relationships to help Minnesota organizations grow and thrive.
This provides us with the unique opportunity and responsibility to contribute to this key economic imperative to help Minnesota continue to thrive within the business ecosystem. When we help a Minnesota company find its next technology leader, finance executive, HR professional, or critical team member, we’re doing more than filling a position, we’re helping that organization remain competitive and grow right here in Minnesota.
Keeping Talent in Minnesota
Minnesota has experienced net domestic outmigration in 20 of the past 25 years, including a net loss of nearly 48,000 residents to other states between 2020 and 2024. We also lose a net of roughly 8,300 college-age students to other states each year, without enough returning after graduation to completely offset that loss.
When we align Minnesota-based talent with opportunities they may not have otherwise discovered, we give great people another reason to continue building their careers here. When we introduce an out-of-state candidate to a Minnesota opportunity, we have the chance to share the broader story of why Minnesota is a great place to build both a career and a life. We have an incredibly talented workforce, diverse industries, innovative companies, and communities that offer a compelling quality of life. These are significant competitive advantages for Minnesota that we want to continue to develop and leverage.
What Makes Versique’s Perspective Unique
Because our focus at Versique is local, we understand this market well beyond what’s written in a job description. We know the companies, industries, talent landscape, and, most importantly, the people who make Minnesota unique. Those relationships allow us to make meaningful, lasting connections between employers and candidates. They also give us a front and center perspective to what talent is looking for and what employers need to do to compete for it.
Attracting People Is Only Part of the Answer
The Chamber’s report reinforces another important point: attracting people to Minnesota isn’t enough. We have to continually give them reasons to stay. Employers have an important role in that equation by creating meaningful career opportunities, strong cultures, competitive compensation, flexibility, and pathways for growth. Our position at Versique is to serve as a strategic advisor and partner to our clients, sharing what we’re seeing and hearing in the talent market and helping organizations create environments where great people want to join, contribute, grow, and, most importantly, stay.
Investing in Minnesota Beyond the Work
Our commitment to Minnesota extends beyond our work with clients as well. It’s reflected in how our people show up in the community, support local organizations, serve on boards, develop relationships across industries, and invest their time and expertise here. If talent is going to be one of the defining constraints on Minnesota’s economic growth, then those of us who work in the talent industry have a responsibility to be part of the solution both when focused on talent initiatives as well as in the general community itself.
This challenge won’t be solved by one recruiting firm, one employer, one policy, or one initiative. It will require businesses, community organizations, policymakers, educational institutions, and individuals working together toward a shared goal: making Minnesota a place where great people want to come, build their careers, put down roots, and stay. For Versique, being Minnesota-based & focused isn’t simply about where we do business, it’s about investing in a place where we want to see both businesses and people truly thrive. We are so honored and proud to play a role in building what’s next for Minnesota.
