2016 job vacancies

employers in the minneapolis-st. paul regionare hiring. but residents from disadvantaged areas areoften cut off from these opportunities. in a recent study, university of minnesotaresearchers looked at the spatial and skills mismatch that contributes to this growing problem. [yingling fan] “so the unemployed peopleoften find themselves being caught between a rock and a hard place. they may be qualified for certain types of jobs, but those types of jobs may be far away from where they live. they may live next to some of the job vacancies,but they may not have the necessary skills

to apply for those job vacancies. so, we analyzed patterns and magnitudes ofspatial and skills mismatch, over time, in the twin cities region. we also conducted a forward-looking, future-scenario analysisexamining how different transit and workforce development scenarioscould reduce spatial and skills mismatch.” [steve cramer] “it is a serious concern. there are some projections that suggest wemay be short 100,000 workers in this state by 2020 or something of that magnitude. on the other hand, we also know we’ve got significant disparitiesaround economic results,

economic outcomes in our community. so i think the opportunity really is to bring these things together and make sure that folks in our community have the education, training,experience that they need to, in turn, fulfill the labor needs or the workforce needsof our economy.” [may xiong] “i think one of the biggestchallenges for our students is transportation. if they are using public transportation,it takes about two to three bus transfers, and by the time they get there, it’s late, it’s exhausting. and then depending on the job, there might notbe any buses depending on when they get off. so it’s hard for individuals to look at suburbanlocations as a potential employment.”

[yingling fan] “so in the twin cities region,you certainly see a significant concentration of the unemployed people in north minneapolis. however, the number one location—in terms of the number of job vacancies—is south and southwest metro, the so-called golden triangle area. so the proposed the regional transit buildout, including southwestand bottineau light rail transit corridors, as well as the many plannedbus rapid transit corridors would mean significant gains for disadvantaged communities.” the researchers also identified promisingjob pathways, or sweet spots, which are jobs in high-demand sectors that don’t require higher education,

but are still likely to pay a living wage. [yingling fan] “so the best prospects wouldbe efforts that target specific communities, and focus on sweet spot job openingsthat are transit accessible.” to help policymakers address the mismatch problem, the research team outlined several key recommendations, such as: look at the entire pipeline, including the skills of job seekers, as well as available training, transit options, and employment; reach out to potential employers andtransit planning programs; provide frequent transit service as the backbone,

plus small vehicle service near worksites; and direct long-term job growth to transit-friendly areas. [may xiong] “i would like to think that there’sa greater economic benefit in terms of reinvestment back into the community. individuals are working, they’re most likely going to bemoving off of public benefits at some point, and so that’s the hope is that there’s less dependence on public benefits, allowing individuals to work hard toward theirown self-reliance.” [steve cramer] “whether it’s a pure self-interest standpoint, or an enlightened self-interest standpoint that you want people tosucceed along with you,

either way, it’s something that we all should care about.”

Fahmy Herbals @ 04.23