Capital Region Nonprofits Started Recovering from Pandemic
The Capital Region’s nonprofit sector is slowly recovering from the heavy job losses it sustained during the pandemic, according to recently released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Every five years, BLS releases employment statistics for private sector 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, such as tax-exempt charitable organizations, churches and religious organizations, private foundations, and other organizations. The latest BLS dataset reveals that, in 2022, the five-county Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan-statistical area (MSA) had 1,798 nonprofit, private sector employer establishments with 69,824 employees. The two-county Glens Falls MSA also has 309 501(c)(3) employer establishments with 6,466 employees.
That means one-in-five people employed in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA’s private sector worked for a nonprofit, and those employers paid $4.2 billion in total annual wages. More than half (40,995) of the metro area’s nonprofit employees were in the healthcare and social assistance sector, and a fifth (15,237) are in the educational services sector. Among New York’s 13 metro areas, the Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA has the fourth most 501(c)(3) employer establishments and the third most nonprofit employees. Only the Rochester (95,457) and New York City (1,143,450) metro areas had more nonprofit employees.
However, by 2022, the Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA’s nonprofit sector saw a decline of 55 501(c)(3) employer establishments and 7,579 nonprofit jobs, when compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Among the 13 MSAs statewide, that was the largest decline in employer establishments and the second-largest decline in employment. During that same period, the Glens Falls MSA saw a decline of 17 501(c)(3) employer establishments and 1,037 employees. That was state’s third-largest drop in 501(c)(3) employer establishments but the eighth largest in terms of job losses.
In the Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA during this period, the healthcare and social assistance sector lost the most nonprofit employer establishments (-60) and employees (-4,335). The administrative social assistance (-55) and religious organization (-23) sectors saw the next largest declines in nonprofit employer establishments while the education sector ranked second for nonprofit job losses (-1,596). There were nominal nonprofit employer establishment gains in the information (2); other ambulatory health care services (2); and professional, scientific and technical services (2) sectors.
By 2022, both metro areas started regaining nonprofit jobs, but by small margins. Over the year, Albany Schenectady-Troy MSA jobs were up 0.1 percent and they were up 0.7 percent in the Glens Falls MSA.
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