Workforce and Economic Growth: Identifying Job Trends and Workforce Gaps for Regional Prosperity

In seeking to achieve economic growth, community leaders usually try to build on both local strengths and national trends. The Economics Center has provided assistance to numerous economic development organizations in the past few years, and Jeff Rexhausen, the Associate Director of Research, recently identified some workforce characteristics in one popular target industry group: Professional and Technical Services.

Made up of legal, accounting, advertising, design, engineering, computer, scientific, and research services, Professional and Technical Services is a group of industries that has become increasingly important in the economy, exhibiting above average wages and job growth. It accounts for 6.7 percent of employment in the Cincinnati metropolitan area, is projected to add an average of 700 jobs a year between 2006 and 2016, with overall industry wages that are 25 percent above the local average.

Nearly half of all jobs in this industry group require at least a bachelor’s degree, and these high-skilled positions are largely high-paying jobs ($62,600 average wage). On average, the lowest paying-jobs are the one fourth of jobs that require only moderate- or short-term on-the-job-training are mostly low-paying ($29,700 average wage).

For firms in this industry group that are expanding or moving to the Cincinnati area, what types of jobs will be hardest to fill? A comparison of the mix of jobs to the current overall employment picture shows a large workforce gap at the professional level. Developing effective strategies to address workforce gaps is an increasingly important key to economic growth.

Data indicate that nearly half, or 48.6 percent, of industry jobs are professional positions requiring at least a bachelor's degree, but only 18.3 percent of the current workforce meets thsi requirement.  Additionally, about 10.6 percent of industry jobs are comprised of technicians, with at least an associate's degree or some other post-secondary training, similar to 9.2 percent of the current workforce.  Just under 13 percent of industry positiongs are operators and low- to mid-level managers who require related experience or long-term training.  About 17.4 percent of the current workforce fits this description.  Finally, 28.1 percent of positions require only moderate or short-term training, but individuals with this level of training represent about 50.3 percent of the current local workforce.

On the other hand, persons seeking sales and administrative support positions are likely to face strong competition for job openings.

Which Professional and Technical Services occupations saw the most job growth last year? Even though 2008 was a recession year, five occupations added 30 or more positions. Of these, the top two fastest growing, management analysts and accountants and auditors, require at least a bachelor’s degree.  The next two, customer service representatives and executive secretaries and assistants, are support positions.  The last, biological technicians, requires an associate’s degree.

What is the lesson for business and community leaders? This profile illustrates how identifying trends and workforce gaps are an important component of formulating  ppropriate strategies for local economic growth

Note: Data for this article was obtained from Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. (EMSI), a commercial data vendor, as well as the Ohio Labor Market Information System and the Bureau of Labor Statistics