Several trends at play right now in the metro Atlanta are shaping the city’s present and future. Among them? Continued growth, both in population and in jobs.

Population growth has become a competitive advantage for Atlanta, as migration continues to favor the Sunbelt, according to JLL research. The U.S. population grew by 0.4% in 2022, driven mainly by positive net international migration.

Sunbelt markets have become increasingly attractive in recent years, as evidenced by the relative strength of their population growth. In 2022, Georgia was ranked No. 4 for population growth in the country, increasing at a rate that was double the prior year and benefitting from positive in-migration from home and abroad.

As the workforce ages and birth rates slow, competition from an ever-shrinking talent pool will continue to be fierce, and population growth will remain a critical advantage. Georgia’s homegrown talent, nurtured by the state’s extensive higher education network and coupled with strong in-migration, makes for a potent combination. Businesses follow the talent, and the talent is here.

According to JLL research, Atlanta ranks No. 7 across the U.S. when it comes to jobs growth led by office-using occupations. Atlanta added 237,200 jobs in the last two years, an 8.4% gain overall, with all sectors recording growth. Atlanta Business Chronicle

SAVANNAH — Every drive past the under-construction Hyundai electric vehicle factory makes Trip Tollison equal parts excited and nervous.

Excited because the Hyundai Metaplant, the largest economic development project in Georgia history, and its suppliers will add an estimated 15,000 jobs to the region.

Nervous because Savannah and the surrounding area don’t have 15,000 workers to spare.

Tollison heads the Savannah Joint Development Authority (JDA), a coalition of four county economic development authorities and the group that partnered with the state to woo Hyundai to the nearly 3,000-acre site along Interstate 16 near Ellabell, about 30 miles west of Savannah. Not long after Hyundai signed on to build the electric vehicle and battery plant in May 2022 did Tollison — along with many other area government, business and educational officials — begin to express concerns about the Metaplant’s impact on the local labor force. Atlanta Journal Constitution

SK Battery America will furlough many of the workers at its massive Jackson County plant as part of efforts to cut production to match the sagging demand for electric vehicles, company officials confirmed Friday.

The move is temporary and will not shut down the huge plant, according to a spokesman for the South Korea-owned company.

“SK Battery America will not be stopping production,” said Joe Guy Collier. “We made the decision as a part of our efforts to optimize line operations and workforce management with flexibility as the EV industry is adjusting its pace of growth.

He declined to say how many people will be out of work or for how long the furlough will last.

However, the long-term market for electric vehicles and the batteries that will power them is not in question, and neither is the company’s much-hyped local presence, Collier said.

“SK Battery America remains committed to the Georgia site and optimistic about the long-term growth of the U.S. EV market. We believe our Georgia site will play a leading role for years to come in making batteries for American-built EVs.”

In late September, the company confirmed layoffs at the 3,000-worker plant. A few months prior to that, officials said hiring had exceeded the company’s previously stated goal of 2,600 employees. Atlanta Journal Constitution

A subsidiary of Toyota broke ground Tuesday on a new manufacturing facility about 90 minutes northeast of downtown Atlanta, which will expand the automaker’s existing campus by 250 employees.

Toyota Industries Electric Systems North America (TIESNA), a maker of air conditioning compressors and other vehicle electronics, said it is making a $69 million investment in Pendergrass in the new facility. The Japanese company will join the existing Toyota Industries campus that’s been in the small North Georgia city since 2004. Atlanta Journal Constitution