Why are employed Houstonians on the job hunt? UH survey sheds light

Many employed Houstonians are searching for better jobs, fueled by cost-of-living concerns and anxiety about artificial intelligence, a new survey found.

About 34% of Houston households report that someone is job hunting, according to a University of Houston survey released this week, even though federal data puts the Houston metro’s unemployment rate at about 4.5%. Of those households with work-seekers, about 57% already have full-time jobs and 15% have part-time jobs, the survey of roughly 1,500 residents found.

The looking-while-working phenomenon suggests that “people are trying to get a job that can reduce the level of financial insecurity or economic insecurity, because they’re seeing that inflation is growing faster than income,” lead researcher and UH professor Agustín Vallejo told the Houston Chronicle.

Almost 86% of respondents said a high cost of living is one of the top three economic challenges they face, with close to half ranking it first, the survey found. Black respondents reported the highest concern about cost of living, with 57% of Black households ranking it their top challenge, followed by 50% of Hispanic and 49% of white households. 

The survey also found that anxiety about artificial intelligence is widespread, though disproportionately intense among less-educated Houstonians. About 48% of respondents believe their jobs are at least partially threatened by AI, including about 14% who fear full replacement. But 21% of Houstonians with a high school degree or less feared their jobs could be completely replaced, compared to about 8% of Houstonians with at least a college degree.

That subgroup of less educated, lower-wage workers is doubly vulnerable, Vallejo said. “You have less resources against inflation than more educated people, and on top, you see that your job is more at risk,” he said.

Vallejo noted that perception isn’t necessarily reality — the survey only measures people’s fears about AI, not employers' actual plans to implement the technology. To ease those fears, Vallejo said, researchers recommend that employers and local government expand programming to train workers on AI’s potential uses and its limits. 

The data marks the second round of responses from UH’s Survey on Public Attitudes and Community Engagement (SPACE) City Panel, a longitudinal study that launched this year. Researchers intend to use the quarterly surveys to track how Houstonians' views on politics, economics, sustainability and resiliency change over time.