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By Karl Henkel
By Karl Henkel
YOUNGSTOWN
President Barack Obama’s newly unveiled jobs plan includes extended unemployment benefits, payroll tax cuts and infrastructure development.
All could stimulate economic growth.
But there’s an underlying reason for the nation’s 9.1 percent unemployment rate: the education gap.
Mahoning Valley employers pointed out the problem last week. A new study released from the Brookings Institution details the magnitude of the Valley’s education woes.
From 2005 through 2009, the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman region had the seventh-highest education gap among the top 100 metropolitan areas, according to the Education, Demand and Unemployment in America report released today by Brookings.
Education gaps are defined as “shortage of educated workers relative to employer demand.”
The top 100 metros makes up about 75 percent of America’s population.
Just how bad did the Valley rank?
The education gap, determined by the years of education required to do the average job divided by the years of education attained by the average working-age person, was above 1.0 on Brookings’ scale, which signals “an insufficient supply of educated workers” relative to demand.
Youngstown wasn’t alone, however. Almost every other top 100 metro area in Ohio had scores above 1.0.
Education gaps most often correlate with unemployment rates. In the Valley, it’s no different. The unemployment rate in May for the region was 9.1 percent.
Brookings looked at the education levels of the unemployed in the area and found some interesting yet troubling results.
Jonathan Rothwell, senior research analyst and one of the authors of the study, said that in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman region, the demand for workers with high-school degrees is 29.4 percent.
But the supply of workers who fit that criteria represents 43.4 percent of the population.
“You have a lot more workers with high-school diplomas than occupations that are typically available,” Rothwell said.
Then add in the following: 23.2 percent of area occupations typically require a bachelor’s degree or higher. About 6 percent normally require a master’s degree; 2.4 percent require a doctorate degree.
It’s in these categories where employers seek qualified workers, Rothwell said.
“Either the job is going unfulfilled, there is an opening, or somebody with less education than that job typically requires is filling it,” he said.
The fix, at least partially, is simple. The area needs to smarten up, said Bert Cene, executive director at the Mahoning and Columbiana Training Association.
Education is key, but it is not the only thing employers in the area search for, he said.
“They’re looking at work ethic, history and the ability to function in that particular company’s environment,” Cene said.
He said one thing’s for certain: For the Valley to prosper, relying solely on a high-school education can’t be the norm moving forward.
“I don’t think anybody should come out of high school and think they’re learning days are over,” Cene said. “You need to make sure your skills are honed because the demographics and the needs change so fast.”