The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) is pleased to announce the release of its analysis of the U.S. manufacturing sector for the first half of 2011 using real-time labor market information (LMI) data. This assessment of web-based job advertisements, co-authored by Lauren Gilchrist, Ken Poole, and Mark White, examines the characteristics of anticipated manufacturing hiring during the first half of 2011. Manufacturers sought workers for a variety of opportunities:
- Nine percent of web-advertised job openings in manufacturing during the first six months of 2011 were production-related. These openings accounted for just over 60,000 of the manufacturing sector’s nearly 669,000 job openings advertised online between January and June 2011.
- Manufacturing job openings were concentrated in major metropolitan areas along the Atlantic seaboard, among Midwestern states, and in Texas and California.
- Almost one in four manufacturing job openings was in just three industries—computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing, aerospace product and parts manufacturing, and pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing.
- During the first half of 2011, manufacturing openings were concentrated in sales and management positions, engineering positions, and production occupations requiring significant prior work experience.
- Over half of the openings during the period required more than a high school diploma, and one out of every four production-related jobs required educational attainment beyond a high school diploma.
- Only seven percent of available manufacturing jobs identified a specific certification requirement. Where certifications were required for manufacturing jobs, many related to lean manufacturing.
Access the full report: U.S. Manufacturing Jobs: Where Companies Are Hiring