Idaho: Skilled Help Wanted

By Sharon Fisher, 1-04-07

One thread common to a number of today's presentations to the Economic Outlook & Revenue Assessment Committee was that the growth of Idaho's economy was slowing not because of a lack of jobs, but because of a lack of skilled workers with which to fill them.

Dr. Kelly Matthews, an economist with Wells Fargo Bank, said Idaho's employment had grown 4.6% in 2006 after growing 4% in 2005. Idaho was one of the top 4 states in the nation for growth, along with Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. However, he predicted that growth in 2007would be just 3.2% because of a lack of workers. With an unemployment rate of 3%, there's not many people out there looking for jobs, he said.

Bob Fick from the Department of Commerce and Labor concurred, noting that December was the 20th straight month with an unemployment rate below 4% -- a figure that some economists call "full employment." Idaho's economy is likely to be regulated up or down by the future availability of qualified, skilled workers, Fick said, and investing in Idaho's work force is essential, he continued. When he was questioned by Senator Hill about this, he said that with an unemployment rate of 3.3-3.5%, labor shortages in certain skill areas that will only get worse unless something is done.

In another worrisome trend, the unemployment trust fund balance equals just 1.5% of total wages paid, compared to 2.5% when Idaho entered an economic downturn in 2001, Fick said -- another reason why job growth needs to continue.

While Fick praised the Workforce Development Training Fund, which he said had financed training for 18,000 workers at more than 150 businesses since it was created in mid-1996, there are more proposals to train workers than there is money in the fund, he said. (Such jobs will pay a minimum of $12 per hour going forward, an increase from the current $11, he added.)

What could solve the problem? Community colleges -- though Fick seemed loathe to use that term, referring instead to 'a post -secondary, short of four-year, program training system, in line with recommendations from the state board of education.' Community colleges could help create jobs in all of Idaho, not just the commercial construction industry.

Members of the real estate and construction community also encouraged community colleges by noting that one area of concern was the thin market for high technology jobs in Idaho. People moving from places such as California brought money into a community -- and telecommuting, most common in the high tech industry, was growing at 15% per year, they said. Carl Wilgus, from the Department of Commerce, speaking on tourism, mentioned this as well, noting that people increasingly brought their offices with them when they traveled and that tourism was a prime way to encourage people to move to the area.

(Surprisingly, though the Department of Commerce's tourism group gave a presentation, there was no presentation from the Office of Science and Technology, though science and technology products provide more than 70% of Idaho's exports. In fact, the lone technology presentation is one tomorrow from Micron.) [End of article]