By Jennifer Schneider and Diana Tubbs | April 2023
Introduction
In January 2023, CUPA-HR asked higher ed institutions for information about the employment of faculty and staff who live and work out of state (defined as a state different from where their institution’s primary campus is located). A total of 331 institutions from almost every state in the U.S. shared their policies and practices. About half of the participating institutions were public (49%) and about half were private (51%). Overall results are presented graphically below with notable differences between public and private institutions called out under selected graphics.
Presence of a Multi-State Workforce
- More private institutions indicated they employ out-of-state faculty or staff (92%) when compared to public institutions (84%).
- Of the institutions indicating they do not have out-of-state employees, 37% do not plan to revisit their stance on out-of-state employment.
- Only those institutions responding “yes” to having out-of-state employees continued with the rest of the survey.
Number of Multi-State Employees
Number of States Employees Are Based In
Type of Employees
- More private institutions indicated they employ out-of-state salaried/exempt staff (77%) than do public institutions (68%). However, fewer private institutions employ out-of-state faculty (45%) than do public institutions (56%).
Recruiting and Hiring A Multi-State Workforce
- Public institutions were more likely to describe their institution’s recruiting policies as nonexistent or restricted (85%) compared to private institutions (71%).
- Private institutions were more likely to describe their institution’s hiring policies as broad or moderate (26%) compared to public institutions (12%).
- Over one-third (33.8%) of institutions avoid hiring out-of-state employees from certain states. Those that avoid hiring from certain states were asked to identify those states.
States Where Institutions Avoid Hiring
Frequency of Institutional Practices
- Public institutions more often indicated they always or sometimes include salary ranges in job postings (89%) compared to private institutions (45%).
Multi-State Workforce Challenges
- Additional challenges institutions specified in a write-in included benefits, payroll processes, taxes, and workers’ compensation.
- Private institutions more frequently cited state-level employment policies as an out-of-state employment challenge (80%) compared to public institutions (66%).
Multi-State Workforce Policy
Additional Resources
For more information related to multi-state workforces, check out:
- Flexible Work Toolkit
- The State of the Multi-State Workforce: Employment Practices and Challenges
- Multi-State Workforce Challenges: Legal and Practical Implications for Higher Education
About the Authors:
Jennifer Schneider, Ph.D., is a senior survey researcher at CUPA-HR.
Diana Tubbs, Ph.D., is a senior survey researcher at CUPA-HR.
Graphics were created by Kate Roesch, data visualization developer at CUPA-HR.
Citation for This Report:
Schneider, Jennifer & Tubbs, Diana. (2023, April). Multi-State Workforce Survey Results. CUPA-HR. https://www.cupahr.org/resource/multi-state-workforce-survey-results-april-2023/
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