Which jobs have long-term shortages of qualified help?

The following table uses three measures to identify occupations with long term shortages: Job Vacancy Rate, Hiring Demand Index and Hiring Difficulty. Only occupations with hiring difficulty greater than 44% (statewide average) are included in the table below.

Job Vacancy Rate represents the number of job vacancies for every 100 filled jobs (total employment) in an occupation group, industry, or region. An occupation with a job vacancy rate greater than the job vacancy rate for all occupations (average statewide rate: 1.9%) may indicate relative difficulty in hiring for that occupation.

Hiring Demand Index measures labor demand due to factors which do not include turnover. (Turnover is the cycling in and out of jobs by workers.) Occupations with a hiring demand index of "below average" are considered slow-growing occupations. Occupations included in this table are growing at a steady pace (average) or better (above average).

Hiring Difficulty reflects the share of vacancies which employers take 60 days or more to fill or who are constantly seeking to fill a position.

Job Vacancy Rate and Hiring Difficulty, Selected Occupations

Major Occupational Group	Number of Job Vacancies	Estimated Employment	Occupational Job Vacancy Rate	Hiring Demand Index	Hiring Difficulty (%)

*All Occupations, Total*	*83,980*	*4,334,829*	*1.9%*	*Average*	*44%*

Sales and Related	14,211	455,495	3.1%	Above Average	45%
Office and Administrative Support	13,080	687,735	1.9%	Average	49%
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	5,719	228,602	2.5%	Above Average	57%
Construction and Extraction	4,517	174,735	2.6%	Average	47%
Personal Care and Service	4,186	97,232	4.3%	Above Average	57%
Healthcare Support	3,309	123,778	2.7%	Average	56%
Business and Financial Operations	2,998	190,212	1.6%	Above Average	49%
Protective Service	1,400	86,378	1.6%	Average	78%

Generally, employers are constantly hiring for less-skilled, lower paid positions. Higher-skilled, higher paid positions tend to take employers longer than 60 days to fill. Both conditions would result in high hiring difficulty percentages.

Employers reporting on job vacancies state that 56% of all job openings statewide are filled within 60 days or less.

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical (2.5%) and Personal Care and Service (4.3%) occupations have a job vacancy rate greater than the rate for all occupations (1.9%). Employers find these occupations difficult to fill as noted by the "above average" hiring demand index which represents fast-growing occupations. Healthcare Practitioners and Technical occupations represent higher-skilled, higher paid jobs (employers take longer than 60 days to hire). Personal Care and Service occupations represent less-skilled, lower paid jobs (employers are constantly hiring).

Protective Service occupations have an occupational job vacancy rate (1.6%) below the statewide average rate (1.9%), an “Average” Hiring Demand Index and a large percent of difficult to fill job vacancies (78%). Roughly 48% of these positions are of the less-skilled, lower paid variety, which are constantly being filled by employers.

<<Previous Page

Next Page >> (8/15)