Agenda Packets - 1983/10/24 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

SECTORS GROWING AT DIFFERENT RATES ' Between 1960 and 1980, manufacturing's share of total regional employment declined, while the service and finance industries- share of employment in- creased. In the decade of the 1970s, manufacturing employment grew by 14 percent, compared with growth rates of 73 and 50 percent, respectively, for the service and finance sectors. As growth in the regional economy moves away from manufacturing, the Region"s emerging growth industries will probably be in the service and finance sectors. The industries with the most potential for growth in the Region are nonelectrical machinery, including computers and office machines; business services, such as advertising and computer and data processing; health services; and banking. CHANGE IN TYPES OF JOBS Not only is there change in the industries that are growing, there is also change in the kinds of jobs demanded. The service and finance industries tend to demand a variety of professional and low -paying jobs --the largest percentage of the new jobs being created in clerical and low -paying service occupations. Between 1980 and 1990, the largest number of job openings will be in cate- gories such as secretaries, nurses aids, janitors, cashiers, sales clerks and waiters. Thus, the growth industries, while providing the needed jobs, also may create downward pressure on overall income. OPPORTUNITIES Although the regional economy is changing, this can have positive aspects because change creates opportunities. Two characteristics of the Region will help adjust to this change --attitudes toward education and the Region's entrepreneurial spirit. Nationally, there is concern about how this country's educational system will cope with the educational needs of an increasingly service- and high -technology - oriented society. The problem has two parts: First, in basic education, particularly science and mathematics in primary and secondary schools, there is concern that too many young people are not being prepared for the jobs of the 1990s. Second, there is concern about the lack of a plan to retrain and re- educate a whole generation of workers, already in the manufacturing work force, who will be displaced. Education must become a lifetime process, as workers are forced to upgrade their skills and knowledge to cope with rapidly changing technology. A number of indicators show the Region has a good start to serve the needs of its future labor force. As mentioned earlier, the Region ranked fourth among the top 25 SMSAs in percent of persons 25 years or older with four or more yearbeensof willinghtochool spendemoneyion educationtot). In addition, achieve this. TheiRegionans e ranked fifth in per capita government expenditures for local schools in 1980 with $40.04. Phoenix ranked first with $64.02 per capita. Finally, Minnesota ranked fourth in the percent of population enrolled in vocational -technical education programs in 1980, according to an Alexander Grant survey. As for the entrepreneurial spirit, the business climate in Minnesota and the Region has been much debated lately. The state has a number of problems -- relatively high taxes and worker compensation rates, and strong cost competi- tion from neighboring states for business in border communities. However, the