{"schema_version": 1, "id": "holland-grand-haven-mi-msa/human-resources/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 255, "label": "Holland-Grand Haven, MI MSA", "slug": "holland-grand-haven-mi-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "human_resources", "slug": "human-resources", "label": "Human Resources"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T02:21:51.222346+00:00", "headline": "Holland employers chase shrinking talent pool as pay climbs.", "headline_summary": "Ottawa County lost 3,100 workers year-over-year even as advertised Recruiter pay jumped to $72,537 and HR Coordinator pay rose to $52,270, both outpacing national gains.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Ottawa County employment change", "value": "-3,100", "context": "Year-over-year loss of employed residents"}, {"label": "Ottawa County unemployment rate", "value": "3.7%", "context": "vs 4.1% U.S. rate in October 2026"}, {"label": "Ottawa County average weekly wage", "value": "$1,157", "context": "+3.7% year-over-year, Q3 2025"}, {"label": "Michigan labor force decline", "value": "-26,000", "context": "September 2026, statewide monthly drop"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Recruiter pay is surging locally while employers compete for scarce talent.", "body": "Metro Recruiter advertised pay rose to a median of $72,537, outpacing the stable national median of $67,234 by roughly $5,300. The gap suggests local employers are bidding up internal recruiting capacity to compensate for a shrinking candidate pool."}, {"headline": "HR Coordinator pay growth signals pressure at the administrative layer.", "body": "Advertised pay for HR Coordinator roles climbed to $52,270 locally, a significant increase that outpaces the moderate national gain to $50,460. Entry-level HR infrastructure roles appear to be absorbing some of the same wage pressure driving Michigan's minimum wage increase to $15.00 in 2027."}, {"headline": "Benefits Manager demand reflects the region's healthcare-anchored economy.", "body": "Metro median pay of $122,847 for Benefits Manager roles sits well above the national figure of $118,618, both trending up. With healthcare employing one in ten regional workers, this premium likely reflects the complexity of designing total rewards packages that compete for scarce clinical and skilled talent."}, {"headline": "Labor force contraction is outpacing job creation plans.", "body": "Ottawa County lost 3,100 employed residents year-over-year while a third of regional employers plan expansion projects. Workforce planning should treat labor availability as the binding constraint on growth timelines."}], "local_conditions": "Ottawa County labor supply continues to contract, with 3,100 fewer employed residents year-over-year as of the most recent county data, even as 85% of regional employers report stable or growing sales and a third plan expansion projects averaging 12 new jobs each. This mismatch between employer demand and a shrinking labor pool, compounded by Michigan's statewide labor force decline of 26,000 in September, is consistent with the acute skilled-labor shortage regional employers report, with 87% of in-demand openings requiring skilled qualifications.", "implications": "Shrinking labor supply against resilient employer demand signals a market where recruitment timelines will stretch and offer-acceptance leverage tilts further toward candidates, particularly for skilled and healthcare roles that anchor the regional economy. Compensation strategy should treat Ottawa County's 3.7% average weekly wage growth as a wage floor, especially as Michigan's minimum wage climbs to $15.00 in January 2027 and compresses entry-level pay bands. Consider reviewing total rewards packages for skilled trades and healthcare support roles now, ahead of the statutory wage increase, to preserve pay differentiation across job levels.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Expected", "body": "Michigan's minimum wage rises to $15.00 per hour on January 1, 2027, a 9.3% increase from the current $13.73 floor. HR leaders should model compression effects on pay bands above minimum wage now, particularly in retail, hospitality, and entry-level healthcare support roles."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Michigan's labor force fell by 26,000 statewide in September with a median 6.8% year-over-year decline across all 18 labor market areas. Watch whether Ottawa County's tighter labor conditions relative to the state average hold, or whether regional employers begin reporting longer time-to-fill as the trend persists."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "H-1B certified applications in Holland fell 33% year-over-year in FY2026 Q1, dropping to just four filings. Organizations relying on specialized or technical talent pipelines should evaluate whether domestic sourcing and internal development can offset reduced visa-based hiring capacity."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Michigan WARN notices are down 33% from 2025 levels, with only 39 filings affecting 6,040 workers in 2026. A continued decline would reinforce talent scarcity and sustain upward pay pressure on skilled and healthcare roles through year-end."}], "roles": [{"role": "Compensation Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 70533.5, "metro_p50": 103004.0, "metro_p75": 117284.5, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 100798.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Business Partner", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 61173.0, "metro_p50": 82788.0, "metro_p75": 95000.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 83900.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Benefits Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 79178.0, "metro_p50": 122847.2, "metro_p75": 131278.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 118618.2, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HRIS Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 77105.5, "metro_p50": 95000.0, "metro_p75": 102500.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 95000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Coordinator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 48981.0, "metro_p50": 52270.2, "metro_p75": 52884.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 50460.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Recruiter", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 46727.0, "metro_p50": 72537.2, "metro_p75": 80199.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 67234.2, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Payroll Specialist", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 48559.5, "metro_p50": 59592.0, "metro_p75": 64511.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 61103.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [{"source_name": "Michigan DTMB", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ottawa County lost 3,100 employees year-over-year through September 2025"}, {"source_name": "Regional economic development survey", "source_url": null, "statement": "85% of regional employers report stable or increasing sales; one-third plan expansion"}, {"source_name": "Michigan Department of Labor", "source_url": null, "statement": "Michigan minimum wage rises to $15.00 per hour January 1, 2027"}, {"source_name": "Bureau of Labor Statistics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Ottawa County average weekly wage $1,157, up 3.7% year-over-year"}, {"source_name": "Michigan DTMB Center for Data and Analytics", "source_url": null, "statement": "Michigan's labor force declined by 26,000 in September 2026"}, {"source_name": "H-1B Scope", "source_url": null, "statement": "H-1B certified applications in Holland fell 33% in FY2026 Q1"}], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "November 2026", "files": {"html": "holland-grand-haven-mi-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "pdf": "holland-grand-haven-mi-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:23:07.416617+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/holland-grand-haven-mi-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/holland-grand-haven-mi-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}