Executive Summary. Many occupations had vacancies. The 25 occupations with the most vacancies represented nearly two-thirds of all area job vacancies

Oregon Job Vacancies October 2009 Job Vacancies in Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties Brooke Jackson-Winegardner, Economist, Brooke.D.Jackson@state....
0 downloads 2 Views 608KB Size
Oregon Job Vacancies October 2009

Job Vacancies in Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties

Brooke Jackson-Winegardner, Economist, [email protected], (503) 947-1263 About the Survey

Executive Summary

Helping Oregonians find good jobs requires taking a close look at the staffing needs of business. Every job opening represents an opportunity for someone to gain experience, begin a career, or supplement their family’s income. Which businesses are hiring? What positions are going unfilled? Why are these companies having difficulty filling these positions?

In spring 2009, there were an estimated 2,203 job vacancies in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties. Almost one-quarter of those vacancies went unfilled for two months or longer.

The spring 2009 Job Vacancy Survey is the second in a series of statewide vacancy surveys that are designed to help answer these questions. Thousands of firms in Marion, Polk, and Yamhill counties were contacted about their immediate workforce needs and the nature of current job openings. Essentially, we asked these businesses if they had a “Help Wanted” sign in the window and to tell us a little bit about their job openings. The goal is to help all the partners in the economy – businesses, schools, training providers, policy makers, and job seekers – see where the available workforce may be falling short.

The health care industry and the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry had the most job vacancies. These two industries represented nearly half of all area job vacancies.

Asking about the workforce needs of businesses in the area is the first step in an ongoing process to improve awareness of available jobs in the community. The next steps are to listen to and understand what local businesses are saying and to work together to address challenges. The objective of the survey, and this report, is to contribute to that process.

Many occupations had vacancies. The 25 occupations with the most vacancies represented nearly two-thirds of all area job vacancies.

Of the health care vacancies, 75 percent required education beyond high school, and 89 percent required a license or certificate. These higherthan-typical educational requirements likely add to the difficulty in filling this industry’s vacancies. Of the vacancies where a wage was listed (more than half of vacancies), 42 percent paid less than $10 an hour and 26 percent paid $20 or more.

Top 25 Jobs in Demand Vacancies for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders topped the list, with 235 vacancies representing nearly 11 percent of all vacancies. Second on the list at 5 percent was registered nurses, with 102 openings (5%).

Medical occupations, including registered nurses, totaled more than 15 percent of all vacancies. Telemarketers accounted for 4 percent. Each of the other occupations represented 3 percent or less of the vacancies, which indicates that a wide range of positions in the area are going unfilled. Nearly one-quarter of the vacancies existed for 60 days or more. Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders as well as physical therapists had the highest rate of long-term vacancies. Janitors took a somewhat distant third place.

Job Vacancies by Industry Health care and social assistance had the most job vacancies, followed by the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry. These two industries accounted for slightly less than half of all vacancies. About 65 percent of the job vacancies had no educational requirements listed or required only a high school diploma. More than one-third of the vacancies required education beyond high school. Of the health care and social assistance job vacancies, 75 percent required education beyond high school, and 89 percent required a license or certificate. This suggests that a scarcity of trained job applicants could be part of the hiring challenge in this industry. Conversely, only 2 percent of the vacancies in the agriculture,

Quality Information. Informed Choices. www.QualityInfo.org

Oregon Job Vacancies



October 2009

Table 1 Top 25 Occupations in Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties With the Highest Number of Job Vacancies, Spring 2009

Occupation All Occupations Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders Registered Nurses Telemarketers Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other Data Entry Keyers Medical and Health Services Managers Cashiers Customer Service Representatives Farmworkers and Laborers for Crops, Nurseries, and Greenhouses Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants Janitors and Cleaners Maintenance and Repair Workers, General Radiologic, CAT, and MRI Technologists and Technicians Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses Retail Salespersons Physical Therapists Child Care Workers Stock Clerks and Order Fillers Food Preparation Workers Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria Tellers Truck Drivers, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Teacher Assistants Financial Managers

Vacancies 2,203 235 102 98 64 64 60 56 54 51 49 48 45 43 40 39 38 35 34 32 32 31 30 30 30 30

Share of Total Vacancies 100% 11% 5% 4% 3% 3% 3% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1%

forestry, and fishing industry required education beyond high school, and 10 percent required a license or certificate.

Table 2 Job Vacancies by Industry, Spring 2009 (Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties)

All Industries Health Care and Social Assistance Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Accommodation and Food Services Retail Trade Educational Services Administrative and Waste Services Construction Finance and Insurance Other Services Manufacturing Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities Professional and Technical Information Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation Management of Companies Real Estate and Rental and Leasing Wholesale Trade

2

Vacancies 2,203 636 350 241 155 153 137 107 87 81 65 56 54 52 13 8 6 5

Requiring Education Newly Beyond Created Positions High School 2% 35% 2% 75% 1% 2% 0% 0% 0% 3% 12% 62% 1% 0% 0% 45% 0% 29% 0% 30% 0% 38% 6% 54% 0% 40% 4% 38% 0% 0% 17% 50% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Vacant 60+ Days 24% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 6% 0% 58% 58% 0% 70% 26% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 16%

Requiring License or Certificate 45% 89% 10% 59% 3% 64% 0% 38% 9% 23% 24% 84% 13% 0% 39% 33% 100% 50%

Only 2 percent of all vacancies were newly created positions, suggesting that the vast majority of job openings were created by turnover or replacement needs as opposed to growth. The industries with the most newly created positions were management of companies, with 17 percent new positions, and educational services, with 12 percent.

Quality Information. Informed Choices. www.QualityInfo.org

Oregon Job Vacancies



Job Vacancies by Size of Business

October 2009

Graph 1

About half of all vacancies were at companies with 100 or more employees. The largest companies, employing 250 or more, had the largest share of vacancies requiring education beyond high school, at 71 percent. The overall job vacancy rate – the number of vacancies divided by the number of filled jobs – was 1.5 percent. Firms with fewer than 10 employees had a vacancy rate under 1.0 percent, while the firms with 100 to 249 employees had the highest vacancy rate at 4.4 percent.

Share of Job Vacancies Requiring Education Beyond High School by Size of Firms, Spring 2009 (Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties) 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%