Few people have a thumb on Utah’s economic pulse like our regional economists. In today’s Workforce Wednesday article, we’re highlighting another piece by Matt Schroeder. Matt looks at how Utah’s makeup of “advanced industries” (industries that do a lot of research and development per worker, and employ a high percentage of workers with STEM training) translates to employment opportunities for Utahns.
“Nationally, Advanced Industries employ about 9 percent of the total working population but produce about 17 percent of GDP. According to Brookings, therein lies the importance of these industries: their ability to innovate leads to greater productivity at lower cost in the long run. Lower production costs flow through to consumers in the form of lower prices; and, because per-worker productivity is higher, employees of these industries tend to earn higher wages.”
“In Utah, this group of industries employs about 147,000 people, or 11 percent of the state total — larger than the national share. And like Advanced Industries nationwide, Utahns in these industries are paid higher-than-Utah-average wages. Not only that, but wage growth tends to be faster than other industries as well. In 2014, the average wage of a Utahn employed by an Advanced Industry was nearly $69,000 per year, while the average for all other industries was about $39,000. Since the end of the recession in 2009, Advanced Industry wages have grown at an average annual rate of 2.7 percent while other industry wages grew at just 1.9 percent.”
Click here to read Matt’s entire article.
More than just knowing what various sectors of the economy are doing, an effective job seeker also knows how to tap into this growth to further their career. In addition to our online labor exchange, slew of web-based workshops, and networking tools, we have 23 twitter accounts dedicated to specific areas of employment.
If you’re looking for work in an advanced industry, many of these tools can be useful. Our twitter accounts share real-time job postings in various fields, like computers, engineering, or science. If you see a job that falls into an advanced industry category that sounds interesting, click the link to learn more. And check out all of our twitter feeds here.
*Every Wednesday, Workforce Services takes a special look at issues or initiatives that affect Utah's workforce. Hop on Twitter to follow the latest innovations that help Utahns take their careers to the next level: #WorkforceWednesday