The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, in a report released last week, said the state’s population already was aging and growing at a slower rate before the COVID-19 pandemic, but that’s been “exacerbated” by employees’ ability to work remotely, which gave them the mobility to take new jobs in a tight labor market.

MTF President Eileen McAnneny said the state’s talent pipeline is contracting, a threat to sectors that have traditionally helped the state economy grow, like higher education and health care.

“Policymakers must proactively work to reverse this trend by making Massachusetts a more affordable and competitive place to be in order to ensure the Commonwealth’s future economic growth,” McAnneny said in a statement. “Gone are the days we can count on Massachusetts’ exceptionalism to attract the best and the brightest.”