Federal Reserve: Is New England’s Work Force the Right Work Force?

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Wednesday, December 01, 2010

GoLocalProv Business Team

Research presented in Boston on Tuesday raises important questions about how well New England States and, specifically Rhode Island, are poised to meet the demands of job growth opportunities. The Report by the New England Public Policy Center found a misalignment between the work force and future jobs, "Our projections of future demand indicate that the supply of skilled workers—particularly those in the middle of the labor market—will not grow fast enough to keep pace with demand once the economy recovers."

The Center found that in many key measures New England and Rhode Island are not producing enough college educated, skilled workers to meet the needs. The study maps the growth job sectors, the trends in production of educated workers, as well as how New England compares with the rest of the regions in the United States. Critical to New England's economic viability and recovery is the supply of college educated, skilled workers.  

Here the 52-page study raises additional concerns, "Our projections of future demand indicate that the supply of skilled workers—particularly those in the middle of the labor market—will not grow fast enough to keep pace with demand once the economy recovers."

Beyond the lack of supply, the study also flags the aging work force, the flight of young educated workers and the lack of investment in higher education as critical issues and barriers to regional growth.

In addition, Rhode Island faces additional challenges and lags the other New England states in a number of critical indicators, including percentage of the state's work force with a post-secondary education degree.

The Report warns,"Given the combination of slow population growth and the retirement of the baby boom generation, policymakers and business leaders in New England are worried that there will be too few workers to sustain economic growth and prosperity in the region."

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