Labor force 

 Changes in the size of the civilian labor force and its component parts of employed and unemployed follow trends in population and economic  development.  Labor force information can be used by human resource planners to gauge the number of individuals experiencing  unemployment problems and to increase the responsiveness of training programs to changing conditions.  Strong labor force growth rates are  increasingly important to ensure adequate local labor supply. 
 

• Labor force has increased 19.8 percent between 1990-1998 in the MWA.  Otsego County recorded the largest numeric (3,925) as well as the highest growth rate (50 percent) increase. 

• The unemployment rate has declined steadily since 1992.  The 1996 rate of 9.4 percent was the first single-digit annual rate recorded this decade. 

• A relatively lower area labor force participation rate than statewide suggests the potential for greater area labor force expansion. 

Labor Supply 

 The availability of labor is a key regional economic factor.  A sufficient supply of skilled labor is necessary for continued economic  development, as firms locate or expand in a region.  Potential labor supply is derived from several sources, including current workers, the  unemployed, recent graduates entering the work force, and persons reentering the work force seeking employment. 
 

• Two major local area supply components (total unemployed and school graduates) reflect decline.  This may result in an increasing shortage of workers in certain occupational classifications. 

• The number of local area unemployed has continued to decline.  Between 1997-1998, the number unemployed has declined by 325 or 6.2 percent. 

• Based on data from the Michigan Department of Education, the number of graduates from the Northeast Lower Michigan MWA high schools, colleges and universities has increased slightly by 74 students over the 1997-1998 time period. 

Industry Employment

 The industrial distribution of jobs has implications for a region’s income potential and is an indicator of regional economic diversification.  Identifying a region’s high growth industries provides clues to sources of new area jobs and has implications for program planning. 

• Local jobs are concentrated in retail trade, services, government, manufacturing and construction. 

• The local area employment structure reflects a significantly higher proportion of government, retail trade and construction and mining jobs than statewide. 

• The five-year trend shows a slight decrease in the number of service sector jobs.  Government and transportation, communication and utilities experienced a significant loss in their relative share. 

Occupational Outlook 

Occupational demand forecasts are a critical information source for human resource planning and development.  Forecasts allow the identification of growth or declining occupations and expected levels of annual job openings by occupation.  Favorable high demand, high wage occupations can be targeted for training program design and job placement. 
 

• Projections for the managerial, professional and technical groups, which have a large concentration of workers requiring post-secondary training or a college education, show faster than average rates. 

• The level of job openings will be highest among service occupations, with 445 openings annually. 

• The 4,180 jobs expected to be added to the Northeast Michigan economy between 1996 and 2006 represent a growth rate of 7.3 percent.

It is commonly recognized around the region, that wages and salaries are significantly lower in northern Michigan and particularly, in the Northeast.  The local wages presented above support this, as 17 of the 20 “High Growth, High Openings, High Wage Occupations” have local wages which are lower than the state or national wage presented.  The wage differences for these identified occupations range from 1.2 percent to 23.9 percent lower.

Job Skills 

The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) examined the demands of the workplace and whether young people are capable of meeting those demands.  Specifically, the commission identified the skills needed to enter employment, proposed acceptable levels of proficiency and suggested effective ways to assess proficiency. 
 
 

 Five SCANS competencies were identified that span between school and the workplace. 

       Resources: Identifies, organizes, plans and allocates resources 

                              A.           Time – Selects goal-relevant activities, ranks them, allocates time, and prepares and follows 
                                             schedules. 

                              B.            Money – Uses or prepares budgets, makes forecasts, keeps records, and makes adjustments to 
                                              meet objectives. 

                              C.            Material and Facilities – Acquires, stores, allocates, and uses materials or space efficiently. 

                              D.           Human Resources – Assesses skills and distributes work accordingly, evaluates performance and 
                                             provides feedback. 

       Interpersonal: Works with others 

                              A.            Participates as Member of a Team – contributes to group effort 

                              B.            Teaches Others New Skills 

                              C.            Serves Clients/Customers – works to satisfy customer’s expectations 

                              D.            Exercises Leadership – communicates ideas to justify position, persuades, convinces others, 
                                              responsibly challenges existing rocedures and policies. 

                              E.            Negotiates – works toward agreements involving exchange of resources, resolves divergent 
                                              interests. 

                              F.            Works with Diversity – works well with men and women from divergent backgrounds. 

       Information: Acquires and uses information 

                               A.           Acquires and Evaluates Information 

                               B.           Organizes and Maintains Information 

                               C.           Interprets and Communicates Information 

                               D.           Uses Computers to Process Information 

       Systems: Understands complex inter-relationships 

                                A.           Understands Systems – knows how social, organizational and technological systems work and 
                                               operates effectively with them. 

                                B.           Monitors and Corrects Performance – distinguishes trends, predicts impacts on system operations, 
                                               diagnoses deviations in systems’ performance and corrects malfunctions. 

                                C.            Improves or Designs Systems – suggests modifications to existing systems and develops new or 
                                                alternative systems to improve performance. 

       Technology: Work with a variety of technologies 

                                 A.           Selects Technology – chooses procedures, tools or equipment including computers and related 
                                                technologies. 

                                 B.            Applies Technology to Task – Understands overall intent and proper procedures for set-up and 
                                                 operation of equipment. 

                                 C.            Maintains and Troubleshoots Equipment – Prevents, identifies or solves problems with equipment, 
                                                 including computers and other technologies. 
 

 The five competencies are required at different levels for various jobs, therefore the SCANS report also identified three elements of the foundation:  Basic skills, higher order Thinking skills and diligent application of personal qualities. 
 

The three part foundation is as follows: 

       Basic Skills:  Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens and speaks. 

                                 A.     Reading – locates, understands, and interprets written information in prose and in documents such 
                                          as manuals, graphs and schedules. 

                                 B.     Writing – communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing; and creates 
                                          documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs and flow charts. 

                                 C.     Arithmetic/Mathematics – performs basic computations and approaches practical problems by 
                                          choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical techniques. 

                                  D.     Listening – receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues. 

                                  E.     Speaking – organizes ideas and communicates orally. 
 
 

        Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn and reasons 

                                  A.     Creative Thinking – generates new ideas 

                                  B.      Decision Making – specifies goals, and constraints, generates alternatives, considers risks, and 
                                            evaluates and chooses best alternative. 

                                  C.      Problem solving – recognizes problems and devises and implements plan of action. 

                                  D.      Seeing Things in the Mind’s Eye – organizes and processes symbols, pictures, graphs, objects 
                                            and other information. 

                                  E.       Knowing How to Learn – uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge 
                                             and skills. 

                                   F.       Reasoning – discovers a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects 
                                              and applies it when solving a problem. 
 
 

        Personal Qualities:  Displays responsibility, self-esteem. Sociability, self-management, and integrity and personal 
                                              honesty. 

                                  A.       Responsibility – exerts a high level of effort and perseveres toward goal attainment 

                                  B.       Self-Esteem – believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive view of self. 

                                  C.       Sociability – demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group 
                                             settings. 

                                   D.       Self-Management – assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibits 
                                              self-control. 

                                   E.        Integrity / Honesty – chooses ethical courses of action.