Workforce Housing in Southern Oregon: What Your Employees Are Facing—and What Employers Can Do About It

Workforce Housing in Southern Oregon: What Your Employees Are Facing—and What Employers Can Do About It

By Jerryck Murrey, Founder & CEO, Annum

Rogue Valley is at an inflection point. I see it every day—not only as a CEO, but as a neighbor raising my family here in Medford.

Rising housing costs have quietly reshaped life for middle-income and essential workers across Jackson and Josephine counties. Employers feel it through harder-to-fill roles and retention challenges. Employees feel it through stretched budgets, difficult tradeoffs, and housing instability that often goes unseen.

SOREDI has been listening closely to these concerns and invited Annum to help turn them into action.

In Q4, we began surveying the Rogue Valley workforce with a simple question: What’s really happening at home? The answer was clear. Workers want to stay, buy homes, and put down roots—but nearly 8 in 10 face barriers that make that feel out of reach.

On the surface, these households appear stable. But the reality is more fragile: families are coping by running up credit card debt, working second jobs, sharing housing, or delaying basic repairs. This creates “hidden instability”—people who are housed and employed, yet one emergency, rent increase, or life event away from crisis.

This matters for employers. National research shows that housing support is a powerful retention and recruiting tool —especially for Gen Z and Millennials.

The traditional fix, “just build more homes,” isn’t fast enough. What workers need today are practical on-ramps to stability: help with deposits, rent gaps, repairs, and pathways to ownership.

That’s where the Annum app comes in. It’s FREE for Rogue Valley employers of all sizes, simple to roll out, and gives your employees a clear path to support—so you can offer real support without taking on a complex new program.

If you’re interested in learning more, reach out to jonathan@annumhousing.com and we’ll share a short overview and rollout plan. If it’s a fit, we can have your team started with the free Annum app in weeks—not months.