Wisconsin Employer Survey

The Wisconsin Employer Survey is conducted twice a year by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) — the combined state chamber and manufacturers association. The assessment provides a snapshot of where Wisconsin’s employers stand on a number of important issues and outlines their economic outlook for both Wisconsin and the United States. For the Winter 2025 edition, WMC surveyed 153 employers that make up a representative sample of its membership. Businesses of all sizes, industries and geographic locations in Wisconsin participated.

Workforce

The latest Wisconsin Employer Survey found that the number of Wisconsin businesses having trouble finding workers dropped to its lowest level in a decade.

Just 63 percent of the respondents of the semiannual CEO survey said they were having trouble finding workers, down from 72 percent a year ago and 68 percent in the summer. The last time the percentage was this low was in the winter of 2015 when 63.9 percent of survey respondents said they were having trouble hiring.

Economy

Despite the reduced demand for workers, business leaders are more optimistic entering 2025 than they were a year ago.

Sixty-three percent of respondents say the Wisconsin economy will see growth in the first half of the new year, while 34 percent say it will remain flat. For the U.S. economy, 75 percent predict growth during the same time period, with 21 percent saying the economy will remain flat.

The trend is even better on profitability. Eighty-five percent of respondents say their company was profitable in the last 6 months of 2024, and a robust 96 percent predict being profitable in the first 6 months of 2025.

Health Care

High health care costs are hurting Wisconsin’s business climate and making employers less competitive. According to the Wisconsin Employer Survey, nearly half – 44 percent – of Badger State employers saw health care costs increase by more than 10 percent over the last year. Another 41 percent of businesses saw costs go up between six and 10 percent.

These high costs come at a time when general inflation has increased by more than 20 percent over the last few years – making it harder for businesses to invest in their employees and equipment.

Education

A new survey of Wisconsin businesses paints an unflattering picture of the education system in the state. According to a Wisconsin Employer Survey, nearly three-quarters of businesses think students graduating from the public K-12 system are not prepared for the workforce. Making matters worse, 56 percent of respondents said they have employees who struggle with the ability to read or do math. The unsettling new information sadly reflects the fact that more than 60 percent of students cannot read or do math at grade level in Wisconsin.