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Omaha business chamber hopes survey project will promote ‘brain gain’ • Nebraska Examiner

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Omaha business chamber hopes survey project will promote ‘brain gain’ • Nebraska Examiner

OMAHA — Seeking to replace “brain drain” with “brain gain,” the Greater Omaha Chamber and University of Nebraska at Omaha have launched a survey of young professionals who live and work in the metro area.

Greater Omaha Chamber programming takes young professionals to the State Capitol. (Courtesy of Greater Omaha Chamber)

Information gathered through the project is to be used to develop strategies for businesses to both retain and recruit new generations of workers, said Merrick Brtek, director of the chamber’s Young Professionals and Talent Development programs.

“Employers are asking for more talent,” she said. “We would love to continue to grow Omaha, to be the epicenter of growth for businesses.”

While a previous UNO-led, pre-pandemic survey sought input from young people who opted to move out of the Omaha area, the new effort is focusing on opinions of those who have stayed or relocated here, said Josie Schafer of the UNO Center for Public Affairs Research, the data expert partnering with the chamber on the project.

Insights are being gathered anonymously — and are expected to help pinpoint areas to build upon or to fix. While focused on young professionals, the survey is open to all age groups and the chamber is interested in hearing a diversity of voices.

Questions are wide-ranging, from workplace culture, to preference about remote or in-person work, taxes, job perks, transportation, discrimination and inclusion experiences.

Schafer said the results should build upon insights gleaned from the earlier survey of those who uprooted. 

Participants in the Greater Omaha Chamber’s Young Professionals group. (Courtesy of Greater Omaha Chamber)

“In the group that stayed, we want to know, what are they thinking? So we can keep them here, understand more about the causes of brain drain and the causes of brain gain.”

In Nebraska, for people with four-year degrees, the net outmigration from the state has been persistent and negative, prompting the term “brain drain.”

Analysis by CPAR shows that job opportunities and housing availability have been drivers of that outmigration.

Business chambers across the state have been raising the red flag about a worker shortage  overall in Nebraska communities, not only among the more educated professionals.

Also collaborating on the survey project is the chamber’s CODE program, Commitment to Opportunity, Diversity and Equity, which is focused on creating positive outcomes for underrepresented populations.

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