© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 1 Closing the Massachusetts Skills Gap: Recommendations and Action Steps April 24, 2013

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 1

Closing the Massachusetts Skills Gap:Recommendations and Action Steps

April 24, 2013


Education & Health Services and Professional & Business Services are much larger sectors of

employment in the state.

MA - Q4 2001 MA - Q4 2011 US - Q4 2001 US - Q4 20110%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

23.1%27.2%

19.7%24.3%

19.5%18.3%

21.6%20.7%

14.5%15.2%

13.2%13.6%

8.5%9.8%

9.3%10.5%

11.4%7.9%

13.3%9.1%

7.0% 6.5% 5.9% 5.9%

4.3% 4.3% 5.3% 3.5%3.5% 4.1% 3.3% 5.8%

4.75% 3.91% 5.37% 4.50%

Employment Distribution by Supersector, Q4 2001 - 2011

Information

Construction

Other services

Government

Financial Activities

Manufacturing

Leisure & Hospitality

Professional & Business Services

Trade, Transportation & Utilities

Education & Health Services


Utilities

Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation

Management of Companies & Enterprises

Information

Transportation & Warehousing

Construction

Wholesale Trade

Other Services

Government

Administrative & Support Services

Financial Activites

Professional & Technical Services

Manufacturing

Accommodation & Food Services

Educational Services

Retail Trade

Health Care & Social Assistance

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

31.9%

29.2%

4.7%

18.1%

45.5%

56.5%

38.0%

47.5%

20.2%

46.7%

16.6%

8.0%

37.3%

52.9%

11.7%

42.1%

23.0%

35.4%

27.1%

34.7%

25.8%

35.8%

27.6%

28.4%

26.6%

31.2%

26.8%

26.3%

15.9%

23.8%

30.4%

15.5%

33.1%

33.2%

32.7%

43.8%

60.6%

56.1%

18.7%

16.0%

33.7%

25.9%

48.6%

26.5%

57.1%

76.1%

38.8%

16.7%

72.7%

24.8%

43.8%

Educational Attainment of Employees by Major Industry in Massachusetts, 2008-2010

High School Degree or Less

Some College or Associate's Degree

Bachelor's Degree or Higher


Massachusetts is growing more slowly than the nation; Central Mass & Southeast are the fastest

growing regions.


Population growth in Massachusetts is driven by immigration & growth in diversity.

2000 2008-2010 Absolute Change

Percent Change

Annual Growth Rate

Total Population 6,131,752 6,275,646 143,894 2.35% 0.26%Nativity

Native Born 5,241,790 5,183,529 -58,261 -1.11% -0.12%Immigrant 889,962 1,092,117 202,155 22.72% 2.30%Race/Ethnicity White, non-Hispanic 5,026,398 4,827,483 -198,915 -3.96% -0.45%Black, non-Hispanic 300,758 381,488 80,730 26.84% 2.68%Asian, non-Hispanic 225,949 332,793 106,844 47.29% 4.40%Hispanic 412,496 588,635 176,139 42.70% 4.03%Other race, non-Hispanic 166,151 145,247 -20,904 -12.58% -1.48%

Population Characteristics, 2000 to 2008-2010


Massachusetts is the 12th oldest state, with 44% of its labor force age 45 or older.

Age Distribution of the Civilian Labor Force, 2000 to 2008-2010


Massachusetts is the most well-educated state in the nation; 41% have Bachelor’s Degree or higher.

Educational Attainment of the Labor Force, 2000 to 2008-2010


Less than High School

High School

Some College, no degree

Associate's Degree

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree or more

-3.0% -2.0% -1.0% 0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0%

-2.2%

0.6%

0.7%

1.0%

2.0%

2.4%

The largest growth in educational attainment of the labor force is Master’s Degree or higher.

Growth in Educational Attainment, 2000 to 2008-2010


Massachusetts lags in growth in post-secondary completions in the US; faster growth in Central

Mass, Southeast, and Northeast.

Massach

usetts

United States

Berkshire

Boston/M

etro North

Cape & Isl

ands

Central M

ass

Northeast

Metro South/W

est

Pioneer Valle

y

Southeast-2.0%

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0% Annual Growth in Completions, 2000-2010

Certificates

Associate's Degrees

Bachelor's Degrees


Massachusetts also lags US growth in full-time enrollments in two- and four-year institutions.

Less

than Two-Year Insti

tutions

Two-year Insti

tutions

Four-Year In

stitutions

0

2

4

6

8

10

1210.1

3.12.1

5.8

4.1 3.5

MAUS


Massachusetts lags US in growth of part-time enrollments in two-year and declined in four-year

institutions.

-4.0

-3.0

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0 5.7

1.4

-3.3

1.31.9

3.5

MAUS


Increasing alignment of fields of study for Associate’s Degree completions in Central Mass,

Southeast & Boston/MetroNorth.

Berkshire

Boston/M

etro North

Cape & Islands

Central M

ass

Metro South W

est

Northeast

Pioneer Valley

Southeast0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

56.6%

18.3%

34.5%

18.1%26.0%

31.2%39.2%

26.3%

17.3%

29.1%

28.5%

35.6% 16.1%

22.9%16.8%

31.7%

7.5%

17.6%

7.6%

10.5% 31.8%13.6% 10.2%

14.0%

15.0%

15.8%13.2%

20.6%12.4%

15.0% 16.8%16.8%

2.0%

11.4% 4.9% 7.1% 9.0%6.9% 9.8%

5.0%Science & Mathematics

Legal

Other

Education

Engineering & Computer Sciences

Business

Services

Health Sciences

Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences

Associate’s Degree Completions by Field of Study, 2010


In the past decade employment opportunities have grown, almost exclusively, for workers with a

college degree.

Less than high school

High school graduate

Some Collge, no degree

Associate's degree

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree or more

-7.0% -6.0% -5.0% -4.0% -3.0% -2.0% -1.0% 0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0%

Southeast

Pioneer Valley

Northeast

Metro South/West

Central Mass

Cape & Islands

Boston/Metro North

Berkshire

Annual Growth in the Employed by Education, 2000 to 2008-2010


Workers with a high school diploma or less are disproportionately unemployed.

Educational Attainment of Civilian Labor Force & Unemployed, 2008-2010


Young Workers, 16-24 are also disproportionately unemployed.

Age of Civilian Labor Force & Unemployed, 2008-2010


Key Findings: Context

• Massachusetts continues to concentrate jobs in industries & occupations that require post-secondary education

• Large and well-educated baby boomer generation reaching retirement age – significant replacement challenges

• Labor force growth is highly depend on immigration & labor force is becoming more diverse


Key Findings: Challenges• Young workers 16-24 face significant challenges in

connecting to the job market due to limited work experience & “try-out” employment opportunities

• Workers with a high school diploma or less make up half of the unemployed but one-third of the labor force as a result of increasing skill requirements

• While alignment of associate’s degrees have improved in some regions of the state, still room to improve in other regions

• Part-time enrollments in bachelor’s degree programs have declined leaving limited access to ongoing skill upgrade & credential attainment for working adults


Strengthen the job seeking skills, retention skills & work experience for young workers.

• Strengthen the connection of institutions and organizations that serve teens and young adults to local employers

• Develop capacity of these institutions to prepare young workers with the skills that they need to find and retain work

• Partner with employers to Increase work experiences and internship opportunities for high school and college students.


Increase the scale & intensity of programs that develop literacy & numeracy skills & credentials of

adults.

• Expand the scale, flexibility and intensity of programs that support the development of critical literacy and numeracy skills, including efforts underway to align ABE and GED programs with community college entry requirements,

• Increase contextualized basic education and ESOL programs,

• Deploy technology to increase scale and enhance offerings for lower skilled workers.


Continue to improve the alignment of education & workforce services with the dynamic skill

needs of industry.

• Provide flexible, modular and competency-based programs to support talent pipelines and career pathways for jobs in demand.

• Strengthen regional sector partnerships and state industry clusters to identify and address changing skill requirements of industry and increasing credentials necessary to find and retain employment.


Craft more effective and accessible educational models that support ongoing skill development

and lifelong learning.

• Partner with businesses to invest in the ongoing skill development & educational attainment of incumbent workers

• Influence the development of Massive Open Online Courses to meet ongoing skill needs of adult workers

• Advance innovations in knowledge and skill transfer from employees who are nearing retirement to succeeding generations of workers

Documents

© 2013 Commonwealth Corporation 1 Closing the Massachusetts Skills Gap: Recommendations and Action Steps April 24, 2013