Hot jobs: Health care and finance among the best fields
With a July 2007 unemployment rate of just 4.1 percent, the Cape has more than held its own in 2007 – more than one full percentage point below the state average.
The Cape unemployment rate is a miniscule one-tenth of a percent higher than a year earlier, but that’s because our labor force – the number of people actively seeking employment – is 1,200 higher than in mid-2006. The number of Cape Codders who are employed also is higher, about 1,000.
Retail, hospitality and the service industry are the strongest hiring sectors, while health care, customer service, service and transportation are seeing strong hiring growth.
One of the hottest job areas is in the medical field, with a huge push toward nursing careers. There are many prospective nurses trying to get into school, with not nearly enough seats available to train them. Other allied health employment opportunities are also available, yet positions go unfilled, for the most part because of limited seats in classes and a great number of health professionals retiring.
In addition to hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities are hiring. One of the most important statistics for businesses to consider: While the number of Cape Codders between ages 65 to 75 is declining, the number over age 80 is rising substantially.
Matching job candidates to job vacancies
Statistically, one of the best ways to assess hot and not-so-hot job sectors is through the state’s annual jobs vacancy survey (the most recent reflects the fourth quarter of 2006).
During October through December of last year, there were nearly 2,800 jobs available, which represents a job vacancy rate of 3.1 percent. That’s about the same percentage as the state as a whole. We had a slightly smaller increase on job vacancies than the state from 2005 to 2006, 19 percent to 23 percent.
But many key sectors of our Cape economy were going begging for top candidates, relatively speaking.
You have the best chance of landing a job if you are qualified in the following fields:
• Business and financial operations
• Architecture and engineering
• Health-care support
• Health-care practitioners
• Sales and retail
The next most attractive tier of jobs includes:
• Management
• Computing and information technology
• Office and administration
• Transportation
• Personal care and service
Jobs with the least demand include:
• Community and social services
• Protective services
• Repair and installation (caveat: many Cape businesses in this sector are sole employers or home-based).
• Education and library
When looking at the number of vacancies rather than the percentages, noted David Augustinho, executive director of the Cape & Islands Workforce Investment Board, retail and construction top the list. Occupations that dominate when using the number of vacancies include sales, office administration and support, and construction and extraction (sand and gravel operations). “The health-care field is a best bet on the Cape both from a higher wage and availability perspective,” confirmed Augustinho.
What are employers looking for?
In terms of what employers are looking for in job candidates, this has not changed much in recent years, and it is one area where we align with the rest of the state and nation. “Employers tell us all the time that they are looking for candidates who know how to dress and act properly in the work environment,” said Augustinho. “They are looking for workers who know how to answer a phone, how to address a customer, how to communicate with a supervisor, how to show up on time and ready to work.” These basic soft skills are often lacking, he added.
There is help out there for workers, though. Many employment groups, including the Cape and Islands Workforce Investment Board, have developed programs to address these issues. “We are piloting a program currently and will be working with businesses later this year to let them know we are providing these skills to young people in our region,” said Augustinho.
The hottest of the hot
Health care
No matter the economy’s shape, people will always need medical care. Supremely recession-proof, and facing a chronic shortage of workers, the health-care sector desperately needs skilled medical technicians such as ultrasound techs, radiologists and phlebotomists. However, educational and certificate requirements threaten to curtail this sector’s growth – and the quality of health care for residents.
Business and financial services
Banks have continued to flock to the Cape, and they are opening more branches and offering more back-end services. They also are expanding their technology and online services for both customers and internal productivity.
The same economic and population trends that attract banks appeal to financial services companies, accountants and other related experts who must build their staff and infrastructure to support everything from office administration to marketing.
Marine economy
Whether you call them boat mechanics or marine technologists, there is a dearth of qualified marine-centric mechanics dotting the area’s piers and marinas. Massasoit Community College and the Franklin Institute of Technology now offer popular certification programs after the South Coastal Workforce Investment Board and the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association first identified the growing need for more marine mechanics.
Construction and landscaping
Despite all those for-sale signs and the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, we are on the cusp of a major Southeast Massachusetts building boom, bucking the far-gloomier statewide trend.
That may require Cape-based companies to expand their market over the canal.
Neighboring Plymouth County will be a big lure for construction companies that are located far beyond that region. Projects include SouthField Highlands (the redevelopment of South Weymouth’s Naval Air Station, encompassing Weymouth, Abington and Rockland) and Hingham’s Shipyards, the Quincy Fore-River Shipyard, and AD Makepeace’s mixed-use communities in Wareham, Plymouth and Carver.
And don’t forget about the possible billion-dollar Wampanoag Casino in Middleborough. Investments in infrastructure, such as the newly completed Route 44 connector and Carver’s municipal water project, are other sources predicted to feed the local construction boom.
Three trends to look for in 2008 and beyond
Population growth – here, but not elsewhere
Compared to the rest of the state, the Southeast Massachusetts population is edging up. As Cape Business recently reported, the fastest-growing population is among 45- to 65-year-olds who do not plan to retire, but instead purchase new businesses or start their own.
They not only come with unprecedented experience and skills, but also national and global networks. And they are inclined to be entrepreneurial rather than seek out a specific job posting.
Keep in mind, too, that while full-time population on Cape Cod appears to be flattening out, second-home growth continues. About 70 percent of those second-home owners have their primary address elsewhere in Massachusetts, which means they are spending more and more of their time and money right here.
Graduates get the hottest Jobs
It’s probably no surprise to hear that higher education leads to better-paying jobs. But with vacancies for high-tech and management jobs on the rise, especially in health care, you’ll need at least an associate’s degree to compete for the best jobs in the years ahead.
Roughly 31 percent of all jobs in Massachusetts require at least two-year degree, and of the job vacancies posted, educational requirements are trending up year over year: 43 percent in 2006 from 42 percent the year before.
The second-home economy
While new construction is stymied by the lack of available land and a housing slowdown, second homes now represent 40 percent of the Cape’s entire housing inventory. In some of the more affluent communities, it exceeds 50 percent.
This means a growing need for property management, landscaping, remodeling and concierge services.
Our 2005 Hot Jobs issue identified landscaping as the hottest of the hot industries. Little has changed here, as more and more landscape companies have expanded or arrived on the Cape. Some savvy builders have added landscape and property management services or purchased companies that perform those services.
The second-home economy also provides growing opportunities for retailing, customer services and information technology.
Many second-home owners are coming to the Cape on Thursday or Friday and staying through Sunday or even Monday morning. That provides businesses with the opportunity to serve them through the weekend. Savvy businesses are adding hours on Sunday. Others are expanding their online operations to serve these two-home customers year-round. (See last issue’s article on the New Cape Cod and six seismic shifts that will change the future of business.)
Cape Business sat with contributing editor Elizabeth Harris to assess the current job market – and prospects heading into 2008.
A very talented technical professional has been looking for a job on Cape Cod, but like so many highly qualified candidates, he’s found that opportunities here carry salaries significantly lower than in the Boston metro area.
“This young man is one of our own – born and raised here – a product of our schools and a part of our community. He wants to live and raise his family here. And we should want him to,” said Elizabeth Harris, owner of The Executive Suite. “Can we do anything to improve his options? It seems to be the universal question business and community leaders have been asking for a long time.”
Harris, who arrived on the Cape 30 years ago as a human resources specialist, recalls an early experience serving on the town of Barnstable’s Economic Development Committee. “We were charged with figuring out how to attract and keep businesses that would provide well-paying jobs,” she said. “Two of our early successes were Cape Cod Potato Chips and Fibronics. One stayed, one left. Now, three decades later, we are still grappling with this same puzzle.”
Cape Business asked Harris, a contributing editor to the magazine, to highlight the bright stories and hot-job prospects for 2008 – after factoring in the obvious gap in salaries between the peninsula and Boston metro area.
“There are bright spots, beginning with health care,” she emphasized. “There also are many more jobs than candidates.
“Job seekers with accounting and bookkeeping backgrounds are in good positions to find relatively well-paid positions. Retail and tourism jobs are always available, but they don’t pay that well.
“According to Robert Half’s 2006 salary guide, ‘The category experiencing the most growth … is the Information Technology help desk/end-user support job.’ I heartily agree.”
Harris also underlines the growing caliber of job candidates as the Cape’s new economy eclipses the older, seasonal one.
“The Cape Cod job seeker is highly educated. These folks are professionally at the top of their game. They come here because they can. The challenge is: What can we offer them? How can we connect our entrepreneurs to these fabulous, talented, new Cape Cod residents?”
On average, the majority of jobs on the Cape pay between $40,000 and $80,000, Harris said. “I estimate that candidates here can expect to take a 15 percent to 25 percent smaller salary than in Boston.”
Harris believes that there is real potential in numerous small businesses pooling resources to share highly qualified professionals in fields such as information technology and accounting. Another possibility: Sharing an outsourced chief financial officer who might not be able to find a six-figure salary with one company, but could make that income working for several smaller businesses.
“If that highly qualified professional needs to earn $100,000, they need to find four businesses that need 25 percent of his or her time and can pay $25,000 annually for that expertise.
Published in Cape Business November/December 2007
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