Rotarians Learn About Regional Employment Trends Survey

Print

Published on July 8 2015 1:49 pm
Last Updated on July 8 2015 1:49 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

Effingham Noon Rotary Club members Wednesday heard some of the findings of a regional employment survey conducted by the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce and by The Alliance.

The Alliance is a partnership of businesses and industries, individuals, and local government entities attempting to support healthy employment in the county.

(FROM LEFT: EFFINGHAM NOON ROTARY WEEKLY PROGRAM CHAIRMAN CLAUDE HUDSON AND ROTARY WEEKLY GUEST SPEAKER DAN WOODS OF THE ALLIANCE)

Alliance Executive Dan Woods shared that the Regional Workforce Profile targeted Effingham County, but also the five adjoining counties. The findings were employment declined from 2004 to 2014 in the survey area by about 1,000, from 113,000 to 112,000. The survey also showed that the number of jobs are down 5.1%, to 44,375 in 2014.

The biggest job loss was seen in manufacturing, where 1,735 jobs were lost in the 10-year period. 920 of those lost jobs were in the printing industry.

There was growth seen in some industries, though; there were 322 more jobs in the health care field as of 2014 than 10 years earlier. As far as individual career fields, the greatest job growth was seen in cashiers, agriculture-related jobs and registered nurses and dental assistants. 

Woods noted that the average Effingham County wage is just below $40,000; compared to the Illinois average of more than $60,000 and the state average of $57,000. He identified "risks" for the area going forward. Those include a declining youth population (11% for those under age 20 as opposed to the 1% loss in all age demographics), declining school enrollment, declining salaries and declining economic vitality.

Woods mentioned several times during his presentation that researchers still need to "drill down" into the data to precisely determine what the numbers mean, and how the risk areas can best be addressed.