Regional Community Audit Project

1. Regional Community Audit Project A PARTNERSHIP OF: Louisiana Department of Labor Regional Workforce Investment Boards Metrovision Economic Development Partnership

2. Background: What is this effort about? The 4 Regional Workforce Investment Boards covering Orleans, Jefferson, the River Parishes and St.Tammany/Plaquemines/St.Bernard Parishes, have partnered with Metrovision and the New Orleans Jobs Initiative to conduct a labor market demand and supply study. The purpose of this study is to determine what skills are most needed by regional companies, what untapped skills exist within our regional workforce and how training and education providers can better provide training and education services to meet those needs, thus producing a trained and qualified workforce.

3. Research Agenda • Identify wage and employment growth trends by industry sector • Concentrating on MetroVision’s nine identified clusters • Working from an industry-specific perspective: • Identify current & future occupational & training needs, priority skill sets, training & education systems that address these needs • Identify gaps in training and other disconnects between labor supply and demand, prioritize solutions • Through industry focus groups, determine level of WIB services and how to improve them

4. Our Research Findings to Date • Used national model to rank high demand occupations in nine clusters and compare wage rates with national averages • Used existing and new research to identify critical occupations for each cluster • Calculated and compared average wage rates, earnings and projected growth in occupational demand • Conducted Comparative analysis with Houston, Dallas, Shreveport, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Mobile, and Jackson

5. Oil and Gas Cluster (Table 1) • Key occupations: Petroleum Engineers, geologists, drill operators, petroleum technicians, surveyors/mapping scientists • Above average earnings in professional & technical blue-collar • Equal or below earnings in blue collar w/exception of drilling nationally, but comparable to other southern metro areas • Professional concentration moderately to extensively higher • Employment growth relatively low--Petroleum engineers .02%, Roustabouts -0.4%, Natural Science Computer Programmers 3.2%, Service unit operators 2.1%, Drill Operators 2.0% • Conclusion: Continued need, low growth with exception of computer skills

6. Tourism/Entertainment Cluster (Table 2) • Key occupations: Food service managers, lodging managers, food preparation workers, waitstaff, food service, porters • Several key occupations below both national and southern avgs • Houston is the exception, average earnings below New Orleans • Disparity greater against U.S. averages than southern averages • Below average earnings bode well for conventions but impede local recruitment of workers • Overall moderate Employment growth - Waitstaff 2.4%, fast food cooks 3.0%, managers 2.6%, hosts/hostesses 2.8% • Conclusion: Low wage, moderate growth, need to add value

7. Maritime Cluster (Table 3) • Key occupations: Vessel Captains, Seamen, Shipping Clerks, Ship Mates, Transport Supervisors, cleaners, mechanics • Earnings fall below average in 4 of 5 southern cities where Maritime has substantial presence (Miami is the exception) • Compared to two top competitors, average earnings lower by 10% (Mobile) and 24% (Houston) • Growth low-to-moderate--Captains .5%, seamen 1%, clerks .6%, mates .9%, supervisors 1.9%, cleaners 3.6%, mechanics 2.8% • Conclusion: relatively good wages, moderate growth, wide variety of needed skills and education requirements

8. Petrochemical Cluster (Table 4) • Key occupations: Equipment Operators, maintenance workers, machinery mechanics, supervisors, engineers • Overall hourly earnings highest of all clusters ($22.80) • Average wages vary relative to Houston, greater concentration of management, professional and technical occupations in Houston accounts for higher wage structure • Earnings of mid-range occupations in N.O. exceed earnings in both Houston and Dallas, due to scarcity in local labor market • Compared to south and nation, generally higher wages (cluster) • Conclusion: High wage, relatively high growth (2.7% average)

9. Shipbuilding Cluster (Table 5) • Key occupations: Welders, machinists, sheet metal workers, millwrights, maintenance workers, supervisors, helpers • Generally lower than national, higher than southern average except Houston (highest concentration of any cluster in region) • High skilled fabrication and professional occupations command higher wages because of key role in building and scarcity • Structural metal precision fitters, electricians, industrial engineering technicians are also in this skilled group • Growth rates are moderate--Welders 1.9%, machinists 2.3%, sheet metal 3.2%, millwrights 2.6%, maint. 2.7%, helpers 2.7% • Conclusion: Highly skilled, high demand, scarcity, growth

10. Warehousing/Distribution (Table 6) • Key occupations: Truck drivers, packers and packagers, engine mechanics, communication managers, dispatchers • Wages averaged slightly less than most southern averages, moderately lower than national averages • Considerably lower than Memphis, Dallas, Atlanta, Jackson • Growth rates are low to moderate--Truck drivers 2%, packers 1.7%, mechanics 2.7%, managers 1.6%, dispatchers 1.8% • Conclusion: Substantial potential for growth in volume and wages

11. Food and Consumer Products (Table 7) • Earnings of key occupations average less than all other clusters in the region ($8.72/hr) • Bread and pastry bakers and food batch makers are the only occupations in the local cluster to have higher hourly earnings than other southern cities • Key occupations: line worker, shift supervisor, process engineer, maintenance workers, system operators • Growth rates are low to moderate--lineworker1.3%, supervisior1.4%, plant engineer 1.7%, maintenance 1.8%, system operators 2.4% • Conclusion: Moderate growth, room for wage growth/value

12. Telecommunications Cluster (Table 8) • Key occupations: Systems analysts, computer programmers, computer support specialists, installers/repairers • Earnings averaged much less than largest southern metro areas--concentrations in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Jacksonville • Earnings compare for most occupations, line installers/repairers and computer support specialists are higher than both southern and national averages • Growth rates are high--Systems analysts 9.0%, computer programmers 4.0%, support specialists 8.6%, installers/repairers 3.5% • Conclusion: High wage, high growth, competitive needs

13. Medical Cluster (Table 9) • Nineteen key occupations, largest of all clusters • Earnings are moderately less than southern and national • Three vary from this pattern: Medical and psychiatric social, occupational therapists, physical therapists • Cardiology technologists higher than southern average • Growth rates moderate to high--Nurses 1.8%, home health aids 6.2%, EMT/Paramedics 3.8%, Medical Records Tech 4.1% • Conclusion: High growth, high and changing skill needs

14. Research Summary • Average New Orleans earnings exceeded southern in four clusters, lower in five • Generally exceeded smaller metro areas (Shreveport, Mobile, Jackson), but lower than larger metros and similar earning relative to those of similar size • Petrochemical and Oil/Gas are impacted by the extent of development of those industry clusters • On the whole, occupational earnings should not deter investment or growth at or above national averages • Key ingredient to the success of these clusters is the ability of industry and education/skill providers to effectively & efficiently work together so that needed skills can be provided

15. Summary: Two Closing Thoughts • “If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do no harm” • Old African Proverb • “A vision without a task is but a dream. A task without vision is but drudgery. A vision and a task are the hope of the world.” • Sussex, England Town Church, c. 1640