Michigan employment declines after Whitmer’s right-to-work repeal Job opportunities have fallen since January 2024Employment in Michigan has declined since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature repealed the state’s right-to-work law, effective March 2024. Since the repeal, the state’s employment is down by 175,816 people, or 3.6%, according to data tracked by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Research suggests that right-to-work states see employment gains compared to non right-to-work states,” he wrote, “so repealing right-to-work may have contributed to this as well.” One of that study’s authors, Jonathan Williams, told Michigan Capitol Confidential that repealing right-to-work caused problems for the state’s economic competitiveness forecast.