Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · September 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Holland-Grand Haven, MI MSA — September 2026
Holland's tight labor market is shrinking, not growing.
Holland's unemployment rate of 2.5% beats Michigan's 5.0% and the national 4.1%, but Ottawa County lost roughly 3,100 workers over the year even as average weekly wages rose 3.7% to $1,157.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Holland unemployment rate: 2.5% — vs 5.0% Michigan, 4.1% national
- Ottawa County employment change: -3,100 jobs — Year ending Sept 2025, despite low jobless rate
- Ottawa County avg weekly wage: $1,157 — +3.7% year-over-year, Q3 2025
- Michigan WARN notices YTD 2026: 33 notices / 5,120 workers — Manufacturing leads at 3,720 workers affected
Key takeaways
Holland's low unemployment masks a shrinking labor pool, not strong hiring.
A 2.5% jobless rate looks like strength, but Ottawa County lost roughly 3,100 workers year-over-year — consistent with people exiting the labor force, not employers adding headcount. Treat this as a supply problem: recruiting timelines and candidate flow may not improve even as job postings hold steady.
Wage growth here is outpacing the state average, not just inflation.
Ottawa County's 3.7% average weekly wage increase exceeds Michigan's reported 80-of-83-county wage gains, suggesting local employers are bidding up pay specifically to retain scarce talent. Compensation benchmarking cycles may need to run more frequently than an annual review given this pace.
Payroll Specialist pay dropped sharply even as the role's national pay rose.
Metro advertised pay for Payroll Specialist fell to $52,000 against a rising $59,855 national median — a gap that may reflect local employers under-pricing a role with rising compliance complexity (ESTA sick leave, minimum wage phase-up to $15 by 2027). Reassess this role's pay positioning before it becomes a retention liability.
Recruiter pay is climbing fastest of any local role tracked this month.
Metro Recruiter pay rose significantly to $66,571, outpacing even the national gain to $68,167 — a signal that employers are investing in internal talent acquisition capacity precisely when the candidate pool is thinning. Expect this to be one of the more volatile roles to benchmark through year-end.
Median advertised pay by role — Holland-Grand Haven, MI MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst * | $71,889 | $103,293 | $118,506 | Moderate increase | $101,727 |
| HR Business Partner | $61,173 | $79,745 | $92,580 | Moderate decline | $83,766 |
| Benefits Manager * | $82,766 | $122,140 | $127,650 | Moderate increase | $117,888 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $78,946 | $97,578 | $102,500 | Moderate increase | $97,555 |
| HR Coordinator | $41,880 | $50,000 | $52,884 | Moderate increase | $50,000 |
| Recruiter | $51,866 | $66,571 | $77,485 | Significant increase | $68,167 |
| Payroll Specialist | $51,241 | $52,000 | $61,127 | Significant decline | $59,855 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Local market conditions
Holland's 2.5% unemployment rate sits well below both Michigan's 5.0% and the national 4.1% rate, even as Ottawa County shed roughly 3,100 jobs over the year ending September 2025 — a divergence that signals a labor market tightening through attrition and worker exits rather than employer-driven job growth. Manufacturing softness across West Michigan, paired with a 3.7% year-over-year rise in Ottawa County's average weekly wage to $1,157, suggests employers are paying more for a shrinking, more selective pool of available workers.
What it means
Low unemployment combined with a contracting labor force means Holland employers are competing for fewer active candidates, shifting the center of gravity from volume recruiting toward retention and internal mobility. Manufacturing-heavy employers face a particular squeeze: state data shows manufacturing driving Michigan's job losses, yet local wage growth suggests employers are still raising pay to hold onto scarce skilled talent rather than letting attrition run its course. Consider reviewing retention-focused compensation levers — spot bonuses, skills-based pay differentials, internal promotion pathways — before defaulting to external hiring budgets that may face a thinner, costlier candidate pool.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Michigan's minimum wage climbs to $15.00 on January 1, 2027, up from $13.73 today — Holland employers with entry-level and hourly workforces should model the compounding effect on pay compression up the wage ladder before Q1 budgeting closes.
Emerging pressure point: Manufacturing continues to account for the largest share of Michigan WARN notices (33 filings, 3,720 workers statewide) even as Ottawa County's manufacturing-reliant employers report tight labor supply. Watch whether released manufacturing talent enters the Holland candidate pool or relocates out of the metro entirely.
Potential inflection point: National information-sector layoffs (23,000 jobs lost in August) and a cooling technical job market could push displaced tech and analytics talent toward West Michigan metros with lower cost of living. Monitor applicant pools for HRIS Analyst and similar technical roles for signs of inbound migration.
Expected: ESTA paid sick leave compliance now applies to employers with even one employee, raising administrative burden heading into year-end benefits planning. Smaller Holland-area employers without dedicated HR compliance staff face the steepest adjustment curve.
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
Free to read and cite with attribution to WageScape. Terms of use.