Southwest Missouri Labor Basin Workforce Assessment Survey

1
Southwest Missouri Labor Basin Workforce
Assessment Survey

• By
• Mike Walker, M.S.
• and
• Trevor Steinert, M.L.S.

• University Center
• for Survey Research

2
Southwest Missouri Labor Basin Workforce
Assessment Survey

• For
• Southwest Missouri Development Alliance
• Sponsored By
• City of Carl Junction
• City of Carthage
• City of Lamar
• City of Joplin
• City of Neosho
• City of Webb City
• The Village of Airport Drive
• The Empire District Electric Company
• The Harry S Truman Coordinating Council
• Southwest Missouri Development Alliance
• Workforce Investment Board of the Southwest Region

3
Workforce Survey Assessment Components

• Study of the socio-demographics of the working
  population in the southwest Missouri regional
  labor basin.
• Study of the socio-demographics of the working
  population in four major labor basins located
  within the southwest Missouri region.
• Study of skills and needs assessment of area
  employees by local employers.

• Focus todays presentation
• Analysis of Available Labor
• Analysis of Employers Assessment

4
Labor Availability Survey Objectives

• Determine background characteristics of the
  available labor force.
• Estimate the available labor pool in four major
  labor basin in the southwest Missouri region.
• Determine types of considerations (pay, benefits,
  commuting distance) that influence the available
  labor forces decision-making.
• Assess extent of underemployment in the available
  labor force and background characteristics of
  underemployed.

5
Available Labor Pool Defined

• Those adults 18 and older in the study area who
  indicate that they would seriously consider a new
  employment opportunity at this time and would
  commute the necessary distance to a job in one of
  the four labor basins.
• INCLUDES individuals who are employed,
  unemployed, homemaker, student, or retired
• Civilian Labor Force Civilians 16 years or
  over who are employed and unemployed and have
  looked for work in past four weeks.
• Available Labor Pool CLF unemployed,
  homemakers, students, retired, military those
  not available for new job.

6
Study Methods

• Used randomly generated phone numbers from study
  area phone prefixes UCSR conducted interviews
  between January 15 and February 20, 2002
• 945 interviews completed out of 1,350 successful
  household contacts (response rate of 70)
• Self administered mail survey of 343 of local
  employers from Alliance-compiled lists
• Three-wave mail survey resulted in 134 returned
  questionnaires (39 response rate)

7
SouthwestMissouri 15 County Regional LaborBasin
Pop 473,417 CLF 229,533 ALF 110,100
8
Available Labor Pool
The Looking unemployed constitute 2.4 of the
basins civilian labor force. The Looking
employed constitute 6.7 of the basins civilian
labor force. Right Opportunity constitute 39
of the basins civilian labor force.
9
Available Labor Basin By County
10
Available Labor Occupational Distribution

Number
Percent
Mechanic,Welder
3,697
3.4
Factory Worker,Meat Packer
5,920
5.4
General Labor
30,590
27.8
Governmental, Business, and other Professional
21,183
19.2
Clerical
4,271
3.9
Educator or Professor
9,646
8.8
Other White Collar
6,266
5.7
Social Service (e.g.health,babysitting)
12,328
11.2
Sales, Hotel, Restaurant, Food Service
10,236
9.3
Military
391
0.4
Homemakers and Retirees
2,458
2.2
Full or Part Time Student
348
0.3
Unemployed
2,766
2.5


Total
110,100
100.0

11
Available Labor Demographic Data
Percent
Number
45.3
49,844
Female
1960
Average Age
54.7
60,256
Male
1961
Median Age
100.0
Total
110,100
Highest Level of Education Achieved
Number
Cum. Percent
Percent
Doctoral Degree
828
0.8
0.8
7.9
Masters Degree
7,901
7.2
23.0
Bachelors Degree
16,607
15.1
30.7
Associates Degree
8,450
7.7
55.6
Some College
27,438
24.9
94.1
High School Diploma Only
42,367
38.5
100.0
Less HS Diploma
6,510
5.9
Total
110,100
100.0


12
Available Labor Willingness to Commute
110,000
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
Minutes
13
Available Labor Benefit Expectations
Percent Responding "Yes"
Salary
97.1
Retirement
82.1
Flexible Hours
69.6
Health Benefits
64.8
Educational Opportunities
55.5
Closer to Home
35.2
Different Community
29.3
On-Site Childcare
29.7
Benefit Very Important In Decision to Change
Employment
14
Available Labor Wage Expectations
15
Underutilization
Yes
33,262
No
76,838
Number
Percent
Cum. Percent
Doctoral Degree
291
0.9
0.9
Masters Degree
1,840
5.5
6.4
Bachelors Degree
1,610
4.8
11.2
Associates Degree
3,891
11.7
22.9
Some College
9,731
29.3
52.2
High School Diploma Only
12,566
37.8
90.0
Less HS Diploma
3,333
10.0
100.0
Total
33,262
100
Highest Level of Education Achieved Among the
Underutilized
16
Summary of Findings

• The available labor pool consists of 110,100
  members, including 30,590 general laborers and
  21,183 government, business, and other
  professionals.
• 23 of the Available Labor Pool have at least a
  college degree and 55.6 have at least some
  college.
• 97 (106,930) would commute 15 minutes or less,
  one way, for employment. 79.7 (87,776) are
  willing to travel 30 minutes or less, one way,
  for an employment opportunity.
• 56 (61,617) of the Available Labor Pool would be
  interested in an employment opportunity with a
  wage of 14 an hour. At 12 an hour, 48
  (53,775) of the available labor would be
  interested, while at 10 an hour 37 (14,554)
  would be interested.

17
Summary of Findings

• More than a quarter, or 33,262, of the available
  labor pool consider themselves underutilized.
• 11.2 (or 1,610) of the underutilized workers
  have at least a bachelors degree, 52.2 (9,732)
  have at least some college, and 90 (12,566) have
  at least a high school diploma.
• 28 (14,997) of the non-underutilized workers
  have at least a bachelors degree, 57 (17,701)
  have at least some college, and 95.9 (29,801)
  have at least a high school diploma.

18
Lamar Labor Basin by Zip Code
Pop 221,830 CLF 110,192 ALF 51,608
19
Lamar Available Labor Pool
20
Lamar Available Labor Occupational Distribution
Number
Percent
Mechanic,Welder
1,990
3.9
Factory Worker,Meat Packer
2,614
5.1
General Labor
12,483
24.2
Governmental, Business, and other Professional
9,875
19.1
Clerical
1,910
3.7

Educator or Professor
4,170
8.1
Other White Collar
4,553
8.8
Social Service (e.g.health,babysitting)
6,657
12.9
Sales, Hotel, Restaurant, Food Service
4,863
9.4
Homemakers and Retirees
1,096
2.1
Unemployed
1,397
2.7
Total
51,608
100.0

21
Neosho Labor Basin by Zip Code
Pop 356,043 CLF 173,520 ALF 82,294
22
Neosho Available Labor Pool
23
Neosho Available Labor Occupational Distribution


24
Joplin Labor Basin by Zip Code
Pop 400,507 CLF 196,343 ALF 93,668
25
Joplin Available Labor Pool
26
Joplin Available Labor Occupational Distribution
Number
Percent
Mechanic,Welder
3,360
3.6
Factory Worker,Meat Packer
4,824
5.1
General Labor
25,820
27.6
Governmental, Business, and other Professional
19,097
20.4
Clerical
2,600
2.8
Educator or Professor
7,392
7.9
Other White Collar
6,065
6.5

Social Service (e.g.health,babysitting)
10,923
11.7
Sales, Hotel, Restaurant, Food Service
7,826
8.4
Military
393
0.4
Homemakers and Retirees
2,471
2.6
Full or Part Time Student
350
0.4
Unemployed
2,548
2.7
Total
93,668
100.0

27
Carthage Labor Basin by Zip Code
Pop 400,507 CLF 196,343 ALF 95,064
28
Carthage Available Labor Occupational Distribution


29
Carthage Available Labor Occupational Distribution


30
Employers Survey

• Skills of Employees
• Business Environment and Recruitment
• Education
• Wages and Benefits
• Barriers to Employee Productivity

31
Hiring Full-Time Skilled Employees Compared to 2
to 3 Years Ago
Slightly less
About the
difficult
same
4.5
Much less
33.3
difficult
2.7
Much more
Slightly more
difficult
difficult
24.3
35.1
32
Needed Basic Skills Improvement
Oral Communication
Listening
Computation
Writing
Reading
0
20
40
60
80
100
Most
Some
None
33
Needed Thinking Skills Improvement
Willingness to Learn
Understanding
Problem Solving
Decision Making
Creative Thinking
0
20
40
60
80
100
Most
Some
None
34
Needed Personal Quality Skills Improvement
Work Attitudes/Habits
Adaptability/Flexibility
Leadership
Goal-Setting/Motivation
Teamwork
Minority Relations
Gender Relations
Interpersonal Relations
0
20
40
60
80
100
Most
Some
None
35
Needed Technical Skills Improvement
Business/Management
Technical/Electrical
Software Competency
Basic Use of Computer
Technical Language
Typing/Keyboarding
0
20
40
60
80
100
Most
Some
None
36
Needed Technical Skills Improvement (Cont.)
Other General Labor
Government Regs
Compliance
Sales
Skilled Trades/Crafts
Machine Operations
0
20
40
60
80
100
Most
Some
None
37
New Hires Meeting Needs of Organization
General Labor
Skilled Trades
Technical
Sales
Professional
Managerial
Clerical
0
20
40
60
80
100
Not Well
Adequate
Very Well
38
Business Environment and Recruitment
Labor Force as Strength of Business Environment
Somewhat
strength
23
Neither
Very much
(neutral)
strength
24
15
Very much
weakness
6
Somewhat
weakness
32
39
Business Environment and Recruitment (Cont.)
Frequencies of "Most Successful Recruitment
Practices"
Recruitment Practices
Listed First
Listed Second
Listed Third
25
21
10
Advertising (newspapers, signs, internet)
7
4
5
Benefits (401K, health ins., tuition/childcare
dis.)
5
2
3
Salary (regular increases, competitive wages)
14
7
6
Referrals (from employees, other employers)
23
6
7
Word of Mouth/Good Reputation/Networking
8
7
5
Environment (pleasant work areas, flex hours)
2
5
0
University Bulletin Boards/College Job Placement
4
4
3
Job Service/Non-University Placement Centers
1
1
1
Good Management (restructuring, comm.)
9
1
5
Non-Applicable
36
76
89
No Answer
134
134
134
Total
40
Education
Public Education as Strength of Business
Environment
Minimum Educational Requirements
Technical
training
Some
Somewhat
certification
Neither
technical
Some college
strength
(neutral)
2
training
3
28
19
19
College
degree
Very much
6
strength
19
Somewhat
Less than high
weakness
High school
Very much
school degree
24
degree
weakness
17
53
10
41
Wages Benefits (Full-Timers)
42
Barriers to Employee Productivity
Elderly Relative Care
Access to Health Care
Substance Abuse
Transportation to Job
Availability of Child Care
0
20
40
60
80
100
Yes
No
43
Summary of Findings

• Major skill improvement needs include
• Oral communication and Listening
• Decision-making and problem-solving
• Goal-setting/motivation and leadership
• Software competency and business-management

44
Summary of Findings

• 35 of employers find it slightly more
  difficult to find full-time skilled employees
  than it was 2 to 3 years ago, while 24 find it
  much more difficult to do so
• 38 of employers find the workforce a strength to
  the business environment, while 38 the workforce
  a weakness.
• Advertising, referrals, and work-of-mouth are
  some of the most preferred practices for
  recruiting good employees.
• 53 of employers require high school diplomas.
• 47 of employers find the public education system
  a strength to the business environment, while 34
  find the workforce a weakness.
• The greatest barriers to employee productivity
  are childcare availability and access to
  healthcare.

45
Southwest Missouri Labor Basin AssessmentSouthwe
st Missouri Workforce Skills Assessment Survey

• Mike Walker
• 785-628-5563
• mwalker_at_fhsu.edu
• Brett Zollinger
• 785-628-5881
• bzolling_at_fhsu.edu
• www.fhsu.edu/docking