Mary Leslie

The affordability crisis in Los Angeles is beginning to stunt economic activity. The high cost of housing in Los Angeles is impacting employee recruitment and retention, especially in healthcare, hospitality and professional and technical services industries. Those three industries happen to three of the fastest growing sectors in Los Angeles, and affordability is impacting further growth. The Affordable Housing Crisis in Los Angeles: Impacts to L.A.'s Fastest Growing Companies is a repot released in by USC Price Center for Social Innovation in partnership with the Los Angeles Business Council Institute to analyze the impacts of housing costs on businesses. Despite the challenge of high housing costs, few companies have implemented strategies or programs to help employees with the housing burden.

“Employers all acknowledge that the high cost of housing is having a profoundly negative impact on employee recruitment, retention and quality of life,” Mary Leslie, President of the Los Angeles Business Council. “That's why we found it surprising that the majority of employers we interviewed didn't have any programs in place to help reduce their employees' housing burden. We fear there will be a breaking point for those employees forced to choose between high rents, substandard living conditions or long commutes, and they are likely to pick getting out of L.A.”

With difficulty recruiting talent, some employers are opting to leave the market in search of markets that offer both talent and affordability. “Boeing moved a manufacturing facility from Long Beach to Seattle to escape Southern California housing costs. Toyota moved its North American headquarters to Texas in large part due to the high housing costs in the L.A. area,” explains Leslie. “A silver lining is the passage of Measure R and Measure M over the last 10 years, a transit investment building out a regional transportation system to connect more affordable housing to jobs centers. LABC's immediate past chair from engineering firm Psomas relocated their headquarters from the Westside to downtown to access the transit hubs to shorten the majority of their workers' commute.”