{"schema_version": 1, "id": "racine-wi-msa/human-resources/2026-10", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 381, "label": "Racine, WI MSA", "slug": "racine-wi-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "human_resources", "slug": "human-resources", "label": "Human Resources"}, "period": "2026-10", "public_after": "2026-10-01", "frozen_at": "2026-11-03T02:40:46.929011+00:00", "headline": "Racine pays more, employs fewer \u2014 a retention economy emerges.", "headline_summary": "Racine County wages rose 3.8% year-over-year even as employment fell 1.5%, while local Recruiter pay ($55,339) trails the national median by nearly $12,000.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Racine County unemployment", "value": "4.1%", "context": "vs. 3.2% statewide, up 0.4pts year-over-year"}, {"label": "Racine County wage growth", "value": "3.8%", "context": "Q1 2026, highest among major WI counties"}, {"label": "Racine County employment change", "value": "-1.5%", "context": "Largest YoY decline among major WI counties, Q4 2025"}, {"label": "Recruiter advertised pay, metro vs. national", "value": "$55,339 vs $67,234", "context": "Metro down significantly against national median"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Racine is paying more to employ fewer people.", "body": "Q1 2026 wage growth of 3.8% outpaced every major Wisconsin county even as Racine County posted the state's steepest employment decline (-1.5% year-over-year) in Q4 2025. Consider this a signal that compensation increases are concentrated on retained, harder-to-replace talent, a sign of selective retention spending rather than broad-based wage inflation."}, {"headline": "Recruiter pay collapse looks like a capacity bet.", "body": "Metro Recruiter advertised pay sits at $55,339 against a $67,234 national median, a significant downward divergence even as unemployment rises locally. Organizations should evaluate whether this reflects reduced hiring need or a false signal that could leave recruiting understaffed when manufacturing retirements accelerate."}, {"headline": "Benefits Manager demand is the clearest growth signal in the metro's total rewards stack.", "body": "Metro Benefits Manager advertised pay of $123,202 is up significantly and now exceeds the national median of $118,618, consistent with statewide findings that 70% of Wisconsin HR leaders see total rewards design as a significant 2026 challenge. Benchmark this role against the complexity of benefits redesign work underway."}, {"headline": "Racine's unemployment gap versus the state is widening.", "body": "County unemployment at 4.1% sits nearly a full point above Wisconsin's 3.2% statewide rate, placing Racine among the state's eight highest-unemployment counties. Current conditions suggest local talent pipelines may be loosening for general roles even while skilled-trades and manufacturing positions remain tight."}], "local_conditions": "Racine County's unemployment rate climbed to 4.1% in August 2026, now 0.4 points above year-ago levels and among the highest of Wisconsin's 72 counties, even as statewide unemployment holds near 3.2% and labor force participation stays well above the national rate. Manufacturing-dependent employment in the metro contracted -1.5% year-over-year at last count, yet Racine County wages rose 3.8% year-over-year in Q1 2026 \u2014 the strongest wage growth among major Wisconsin counties \u2014 a pattern consistent with employers paying up to retain scarce skilled-trades talent even as headcount shrinks.", "implications": "Rising wages alongside falling headcount signals a market where employers are concentrating spend on fewer, harder-to-replace workers as headcount stays flat or shrinks \u2014 a dynamic that should reshape how HR leaders think about headcount planning versus retention investment. Advertised pay for Recruiter roles locally has dropped significantly (metro median $55,339 versus $67,234 nationally), suggesting local employers are scaling back recruiting capacity precisely when manufacturing and skilled-trades retention needs intensify. Consider evaluating whether recruiting function cuts are undermining the succession and knowledge-transfer work Wisconsin HR leaders increasingly say they need.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Worth watching", "body": "Racine County's unemployment trajectory versus Wisconsin's stable 3.2% statewide rate over the next two reporting cycles will clarify whether the metro's softening is manufacturing-specific or broadening into other sectors relevant to workforce planning."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Wisconsin WARN filings remain modest statewide (56 notices, 3,914 workers in 2026), but Racine's status as the state's weakest major-county labor market makes it worth monitoring for any new notices that could add skilled manufacturing talent to the local candidate pool."}, {"category": "Early indicator", "body": "Recruiter advertised pay has fallen significantly in the metro; watch whether time-to-fill data for skilled-trades and manufacturing roles lengthens over the next quarter as a result of thinner internal recruiting capacity."}, {"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Wisconsin's statewide finding that 40% of HR leaders expect 5-10% retirement attrition over three years applies directly to Racine's manufacturing base; succession planning and knowledge-transfer investment decisions made in coming weeks will determine exposure."}], "roles": [{"role": "Compensation Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 72626.0, "metro_p50": 92010.6, "metro_p75": 103266.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 100798.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Business Partner", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 63670.25, "metro_p50": 83857.0, "metro_p75": 96800.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 83900.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Benefits Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 84694.0, "metro_p50": 123202.4, "metro_p75": 133868.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "significant", "national_p50": 118618.2, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "HRIS Analyst", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 76737.0, "metro_p50": 79403.0, "metro_p75": 83843.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 95000.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "HR Coordinator", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 47350.0, "metro_p50": 54080.0, "metro_p75": 69546.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 50460.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Recruiter", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 43680.0, "metro_p50": 55338.6, "metro_p75": 73468.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "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": 49754.0, "metro_p50": 62500.0, "metro_p75": 66696.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 61103.0, "national_trend_direction": "up", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "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": "racine-wi-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "pdf": "racine-wi-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-11-03T08:28:46.368057+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/racine-wi-msa/human-resources/2026-10.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/racine-wi-msa/human-resources/2026-10.pdf"}