Packaging and Understanding Labor Data

1
Packaging and Understanding Labor Data

• Prepared for
• Northwest Ontario Development Network
• September 2007

2
Current Canadian Economy

• Residential investment decreases
• Loonie at par with greenback
• Business fixed investment climbs
• Business inventories build
• Exports dip again (maybe auto related)
• Imports increase
• Current account surplus shrinks
• Healthy corporate profits continue
• Consumer price inflation remains subdued
• Low unemployment rate edges higher
• Bank of Canada holds policy rate steady

3
US Economy

• In 30 years, manufacturing has fell from 20 of
  GDP to 10.
• Manufacturing share of employment has fallen from
  28 to near 10.
• Output continues to grow as well as productivity,
  but fewer jobs.
• Culprit is technology management not off
  shoring
• Demise of manufacturing less trained workers

4
Observations on Future of Canada

• Positive immigration policy, affordable higher
  education system
• Diversified economies (provinces)
• Lower crime rates, less natural disasters
• More accepted globally
• Emerging as new energy superpower
• No longer sleeping with an elephant
• US companies seeing value AMD, Phelps Dodge,
  Open Text.
• Unfortunately, strong loonie

5
Canada Vital Growth
6
Provincial Vital Growth
7
Thunder Bay Labor DataNumbers and Trends Look
Good At First
8
Wages for CSRs in NE Region 1997
9
CSR Wages In CD Dollars 2006
10
CSR Salaries in US Dollars 2006
11
Skilled wages were competitive with most Midwest
industrial centers.
Skilled Wages, 1996
15.20
Thunder Bay
18.22
Joliet, IL
Joliet, IL
15.26
Elgin, IL
Elgin, IL
16.04
Minneapolis/St.Paul
Minneapolis/St.Paul
15.78
Pontiac, MI
Pontiac, MI
15.70
Janesville, WI
Janesville, WI
13.67
Burlington, IA
Burlington, IA
16.52
Detroit, MI
Detroit, MI
18.23
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX
14.61
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
18.00
20.00
Average U.S. /Hour
12
Semi-skilled wages are less than most Midwest
industrial centers.
Semi-Skilled Wages, 1996
10.13
Thunder Bay, ON
12.72
Joliet, IL
Joliet, IL
13.34
Elgin, IL
Elgin, IL
12.01
Minneapolis/St.Paul
Minneapolis/St.Paul
11.95
Pontiac, MI
Pontiac, MI
11.25
Janesville, WI
Janesville, WI
11.14
Burlington, IA
Burlington, IA
13.78
Detroit, MI
Detroit, MI
16.31
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX
12.67
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
18.00
U.S./Hour
13
Industrial Machinery SalariesMay 2006
14
CSR Salaries 1 Year MediansFinancial Services
15
CSR Salaries 6 Year MediansFinancial Services
16
Machine Operator Salaries 1 Year Medians
17
Machine Operator Salaries6 Year Medians
18
2002 Labor Availability Analysis
19
2002 Labor Quality Analysis
20
2002 Labor Quality Analysis
21
Kenora 2002 Education and Training Analysis
22
Labor Packaging

• Wages easy to find
• Quality and availability (general) requires
  fieldwork
• Education and Training analysis ask employers,
  track graduates.
• Most critical (make the site selectors job
  easier) resident survey, (workers study) use
  statistically significant survey (mandated in
  Iowa) recently completed in Albuquerque

23
An Overview of the White Collar Labor Force in
the Albuquerque MSA

• Prepared by Wadley-Donovan Group
• August 2006

24
Features of Labor Force

• Potential hidden labor supply of 136,000
  residents (135,000 in hidden labor force)
• Additionally, 2,000 spouses and 10,000 military
  retirees may be available.
• Another asset 230,000 may be interested in
  additional training to complement their
  education.

25
Hidden Labor Force
26
Key Labor Findings

• The region has a favorable ratio of residents in
  the working group 20-34 years old.
• Good to very good availability of call center and
  technical support labor
• Employers can generally recruit from outside
  Albuquerque.
• Home to 16 post secondary institutions,
  approximately 58,000 students
• Region graduates over 3400 students per year in
  key technical disciplines.

27
Key Labor Findings

• Employers rank the quality of the graduates of
  the local universities highly.
• Employers report satisfactory work ethic and
  productivity and no substance abuse.
• Median annual wages are lower than the national
  average and other Western cities.
• Operating environment is employer-friendly (lower
  rate of unionization compared to national
  average).
• Incentives and customized training programs are
  excellent, especially for targeted firms.

28
Overview of Theoretical Labor Derivation For
White Collar Office

• Population 683,744 (est. 2005 800,000)
• Projected pop. change ages 20-54 by 2008 24,008
  increase
• Labor Force 334,505 resident skills
  administrative support/clerical 45,912
• Service occupations 39,236
• Sales occupations 38,236
• Total 2005 24,729

29
Supply Components

• Currently Employed ( back office related
  skills) 15,393
• Underemployed (adjusted) 5,503
• Not Employed 1,265
• 2005 Supply Additions population growth 1,885
  college graduate
• Base expansion spouses hard to account for.

30
Back Office Qualified Applicants

• Commute 30 minutes (propensity 80)
• Employer Intercept (site response) 70)
• Employer Acceptance 40
• Net Qualified for Customer Service/Technical
  Support 5,539
• 1 in 3 selectivity 1,846
• 1 in 4 selectivity 1,385

31
Summary

• Call centers and technical support for 1500
  employees within parameters and will be able to
  attract qualified personnel
• Technical support aimed at university and spouses
  of Air Force personnel difficult to ascertain
• Call centers employees anxious to move into next
  level.
• Results ABQ has had a multitude of high end
  contact/financial service center activity (could
  be announcing 2,000 employee financial service
  center soon)

32
Preparing your community for a labor constrained
inflationary economy

• Educate local leaders about the dimensions of the
  labor problem
• Carefully redefine economic development in this
  new paradigm
• Move your program practice from tactical to
  strategic
• Choose economic base specializations (prepare to
  hyper specialize)
• Prepare new products, value positions and
  marketing methodologies
• Develop predictive local labor market gap data
• Figure out how to steer talent to your high value
  e-base sectors
• Develop a spec workforce program that integrates
  economic development and workforce development
• Rethink your organizational and funding structure
• Develop an inflation mitigation plan

33
We are in a global talent search, so anything we
can do to get those top draft choices we should
do, because one of them is going to be Babe Ruth,
and why should we let him or her go elsewhere

• Bill Brody, President,
• Johns Hopkins University