Teachers Among Top 5 Groups Leaving Idaho

More teachers are leaving Idaho than people in other professions. That’s according to a report released earlier this month by the Idaho Department of Labor.

Of people who left Idaho between 2008 and 2011, 3 percent where K-12 teachers and 4 percent were college or university instructors. Both are among the top five groups of professionals leaving the state, with K-12 teachers at number four and college instructors number three.

Alivia Metts is a regional economist with the Idaho Department of Labor. She looked at U.S. Census data for a picture of what’s known as out-migration. She expected to see people leave for jobs like construction (in the number two spot.)

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Significant population change in Idaho impacting jobs

The problem, says Fick, is not just outmigration, it’s who’s leaving and who’s replacing them.

“We have an influx greater than it has been in the past of older people,” Fick said. “People who are at the end of their working lives or retired. Compounding that, which is something we haven’t had in the past, is this exodus of younger workers.”

In the last decade, 2012 stands out with huge drop in workers in their 20s and a new rise in those above 60-years-old. That new trend, which is expected by many to continue, is what some experts have named the Silver Tsunami. Fick says they’re already seeing that trend causing a shift in jobs and pay.

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