{"id":866617,"date":"2026-10-01T03:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T03:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/866617\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T03:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T03:36:11","slug":"business-leaders-warn-sluggish-hiring-could-stall-seattles-downtown-revival-and-tax-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/866617\/","title":{"rendered":"Business leaders warn sluggish hiring could stall Seattle\u2019s downtown revival and tax base"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE \u2014 Seattle\u2019s job market is falling behind other major cities, and now business leaders are pressing city hall for a course correction.<\/p>\n

A new report from the Downtown Seattle Association found the Puget Sound region ranked 20th among the nation\u2019s 30 largest metropolitan areas for employment growth from 2019 through 2025.<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE | Seattle mayor launches task force as city faces ‘fragile’ economic moment <\/a><\/p>\n

Regional employment has been nearly flat since 2022, growing by less than 1% a year on average.<\/p>\n

In Seattle, some 18,000 jobs have been lost since 2024, and many of those reductions were among businesses located in the downtown core. Meanwhile, Bellevue added 5,375 jobs, and Tacoma gained 662.<\/p>\n

Jon Scholes, DSA president and CEO, said reversing this trend will require a mix of predictable tax policy and ongoing support for the revitalization of downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sluggish in Seattle when it comes to economic growth and employment growth,\u201d Scholes said. \u201cWe’ve become less predictable as a place to do business and we’ve gotten a lot of new business and employer taxes over the last four or five years.”<\/p>\n

Scholes said city leaders should avoid adding business taxes and instead create a more stable environment for employers.<\/p>\n

RELATED | What happens next for Wilson\u2019s no-new-taxes budget as Seattle City Council weighs changes <\/a><\/p>\n

He said companies face higher costs and uncertainty about future tax policy, making Seattle more expensive for jobs than competing cities in the region and elsewhere in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need more business taxes in Seattle,\u201d Scholes said. \u201cWe just need more businesses in our city paying taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DSA jobs report comes after Mayor Katie Wilson submitted her preliminary city budget, which is now being debated and adjusted by members of the Seattle City Council.<\/p>\n

Scholes praised Wilson\u2019s proposed budget for not relying on new taxes and said the city should build on that approach with policies that give employers more confidence to grow.<\/p>\n

The mayor has also signed an executive order intended to retain businesses and diversify Seattle\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

The plan calls for a business and labor task force, faster permitting and a proposed Seattle Strategic Initiatives Fund that could invest in startups and growing companies.<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s executive order was in response to a separate, city-commissioned report that warned Seattle has become heavily dependent on a handful of large tech companies.<\/p>\n

Ten companies generate 75% of the city\u2019s JumpStart payroll tax revenue.<\/p>\n

The city still has considerable strengths as a place to do business, but the challenge is keeping startups and mid-sized firms from leaving Seattle as they grow.<\/p>\n

Scholes said what the jobs report shows is that revitalizing downtown means more workers to help fill storefronts, increase sales-tax collections and support the city\u2019s broader tax base.<\/p>\n

Kathy Lee, owner of the Fossil and Stone art gallery, said she is seeing more office workers return but said downtown\u2019s retail draw has weakened because so many big-name stores have closed in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t come downtown to shop anymore,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThey come down for the market, and Nordstrom and Ben Bridge and Fossil and Stone, we\u2019re here along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scholes said Seattle\u2019s recovery will depend on both the public and private sectors working together to retain employers, attract investment, and restore downtown\u2019s role as the economic engine of the city and region.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are some important recent signals by city hall that are going to benefit Seattle,\u201d Scholes said. \u201cWhen downtown is rocking the tax base is great.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 Seattle\u2019s job market is falling behind other major cities, and now business leaders are pressing city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101],"class_list":["post-866617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}