Your city in Cities: Skylines might not have enough workers for various reasons such as low education levels, inadequate public transportation, or a low population.
Overview
Cities: Skylines is a popular video game that invites players to experience city-building simulation elements while exploring an open-ended world. The objective is to create a powerful city, while taking care of its residents. You are therefore responsible for managing road placements, public transport, zoning, and employment levels, among others.
When you start a new game, you will find an empty map which has a highway. You will have to plan and build an interchange so that people will have access to your city. Players should ensure that they have allocated different zones before people move into the city.
What are the different zones?
The zones in the game allow players to choose where houses, factories, and shops will be built. Once an empty zone has been assigned a zone type, people can start building the infrastructures accordingly. The following table outlines the different zones and gives a description of each:
Zone | Description |
Municipal |
These are buildings or services owned by the government. |
Office |
Office zones provide pollution-free jobs for residents with higher education levels. However, they do not produce any goods. |
Industrial |
These zones provide jobs for people and products in commercial buildings. |
Commercial |
Commercial zones provide various shops and services. |
Residential |
These zones are exclusively for residential and housing purposes. |
Not enough workers in Cities: Skylines
As mentioned above, some of the zones will provide employment opportunities for the city’s residents. However, it is possible that there may be too many job opportunities, and not enough workers. Most players will face this problem, as it is quite common, especially in early-game.
This problem arises when you do not have enough people in your city, or when you do not have enough workers with suitable education. It can also happen when the residents cannot reach their workplace.
To avoid this situation, you should try to control your zones efficiently. This means that you should not build many industrial zones with only a few residential areas. Players should always have minimum resident demand and avoid fulfilling industrial and commercial demand completely.
It is advised that you pay attention to your resident’s education before levelling up your industrial and commercial districts. As you introduce new services and parks, your commercial zones will reach new levels.
As a result, they will require more educated workers. For this reason, educating citizens and levelling up your commercial zones needs to be balanced.
Education
There are currently 4 tiers of education, and all citizens and jobs are rated according to the tiers. The 4 tiers are uneducated, educated, well-educated, and highly educated. Educated citizens will have their homes upgraded to higher building levels. They will also be able to get better paying jobs in your city.
The first citizens that move into your city will be uneducated and, as such, will not get high-paying jobs. It is your responsibility to invest in education to produce educated residents. You will then have to build a commercial zone, because there will be a demand for better jobs.
Public transports
One of the causes of not having enough workers is that people are unable to travel to their jobs. Transport is one of the various services in the game. There are several modes of transportation that can be unlocked by reaching milestones. The public transport includes, but is not limited to buses, cable cars, metro, and the monorail.
Players should ensure that they create public transport rules that take citizens to their educational facilities and their job locations.
What if the roads and education are not the problem?
If there is enough public transport available, and your residents are educated, you should just give it some time. Generally, the problem then is that your educated workforce is still trying to find relevant jobs.
You can confirm this by opening your industries to view the recently employed workers. If they are over-educated, it is usually an indication that people are still trying to find jobs.
Final thoughts
Cities: Skylines is a thrilling video game that allows players to enjoy city-building simulation elements while exploring an open-ended world. The objective of the game is to create a powerful city, while looking after its residents. You should, therefore, manage road placements, public transport, zoning, and employment levels, among others.
There are a few types of zones in the game, some of which can provide jobs to your city’s residents. One of the problems you will face is not having enough workers. It is generally caused by low education levels and low population figures. However, a lack of public transport can also play a role, as residents need reliable transportation to get to work.