Take this job: North Carolina startups rise as more are 'fed up' with workplace

A prevailing economic theory is that the COVID-19 pandemic spurred a surge of business startups in North Carolina as employees opted to work for themselves or pursue an entrepreneurial dream.

For example, there were between 60,000 and 61,000 new businesses established during the period of January through April in both 2021 and 2022, according to the state.

By comparison, there were 39,000 business created between January and April 2020 — the latter two months likely affected significantly by the unnerving first six weeks of the pandemic.

However, as the pandemic has evolved into a public-health endemic in recent months, two questions arose.

First, would there be the same startup interest?

Or would uncertainty about job security, particularly in the banking, manufacturing and technology sectors amid sluggish consumer demand, stoke increased willingness to carve a new path?

The preliminary answer from the N.C. Secretary of State’s office is that about the same number of North Carolinians are still scratching that startup itch.