Job Trends Report - Industry Spotlight: Health Care

January 2012 (PDF, 680 KB)

The latest SJI Job Trends Report is available online, with a focus on the Health Care industry. It is one in a series of reports aimed at providing important local workforce development information relevant to helping Seattle adults gain access to skills leading to well-paying work. In addition, the report provides basic analysis of key employment and industry job growth trends for King County and the Puget Sound Region.

Highlights of this report include:

• Regional job growth and unemployment rates see positive change. Unemployment rates dropped for the nation, Washington State and Seattle region for November 2011. Similar good news was witnessed in employment numbers, with growth for many industries and overall growth of over 9,600 jobs for Seattle-King County for November 2011. Still, overall, many industries have yet to make up for the significant losses brought on by the recession.
• Health Care remains a strong industry and important supplier of jobs. Health Care is a key industry for the Seattle-King County region. Along with Education, it represents roughly 12% of local employment - 169,900 jobs - as of November 2011. The industry is largely represented by females, and tends to run older than the total regional workforce as a whole. Currently, 75% of the individuals employed in the industry have some level of postsecondary educational attainment.
• Health Care occupations include a range of accessible living-wage opportunities. The industry depends heavily on a variety of occupations spanning all skill levels. Current data reveal many opportunities for middle-wage jobs, requiring some education beyond high school but not necessarily a 4-year degree, and paying a living wage. Such positions include clinical roles, such as Registered Nurses and Surgical Technologists, as well as administrative positions, such as Medical Records and Health Information Technicians and Medical Transcriptionists.
• Health Care employers continue to hire, with an eye towards key performance (soft) skills for success. Seattle-King County Health Care industry employers continue to report relatively steady job growth and vacancies, with supply shortages in some key positions. More and more, employers are looking for key performance skills along with essential technical skills as desirable qualities for employment in the field.

2011 Middle-Wage Jobs Data Update (December 2011)

Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI) is pleased to provide you with its 2011 Middle-Wage Jobs Data Update, the latest in a series of research SJI has completed over the past few years to identify and track middle-wage job opportunities in the Seattle-King County region that are accessible to individuals with less than a Bachelor’s degree. 

This recent work examines the nature of this category of job opportunities and how it has changed over the last four years. Specifically, it highlights occupations that have maintained their middle-wage status through the rough economic terrain, and examines the strength of these opportunities based on both job and wage growth.

The 2011 Middle-Wage Jobs Data Update builds on SJI’s previous research in this area. 

In 2008, SJI released a report "Skills Required: Preparing the Puget Sound for Tomorrow's Middle-Wage Jobs," highlighting the accessible employment opportunities available in key industry sectors in the Puget Sound Region.

"Skills Required: Preparing Puget Sound for Tomorrow's Middle-Wage Jobs," a 2008 report from SJI confirms that middle-wage jobs -- those jobs that pay a livable wage and require some training beyond high school but not a 4-year degree -- are and will continue to support key industries in the Puget Sound region.  This work supplements an earlier working paper, detailing middle-wage occupations expected to grow in each industry as well as available and accessible training opportunities in the region. 

• Skills Required: Preparing Puget Sound for Tomorrow's Middle-Wage Jobs
  Paul Sommers, Ph.D, Mark Gardner, and Juliet Scarpa. 03/2008
  • Brief Overview (PDF, 70K)
• Executive Summary (PDF, 45K)
• Full Report (PDF, 312K)

In 2010, SJI released more research delving into similar opportunities available in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

SJI’s report “Skills Required: Examining King County Middle-Wage Opportunities in STEM” examines the growing attention and efforts in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) with the goal of providing a foundation of knowledge about the varied occupations and industries that depend on these skills for successful regional and national economic and workforce development. In addition, the work examines the potential for middle-wage opportunities in STEM, and highlights local training opportunities, and provides recommendations and areas for further consideration to expand these opportunities for low-income working adults.

• Skills Required: Examining King County Middle-Wage Opportunities in STEM

05/2010

Executive Summary (PDF, 48K)

Full Report (PDF, 524K)

In early 2011, SJI produced a suite of data fact sheets updating and highlighting middle-wage job opportunities in key industry sectors in a quick reference tool format, aimed at serving as sources of labor market information for a variety of consumers - job seekers, employment and training practitioners, and various workforce and economic development stakeholders.

Middle-Wage Jobs Industry Data Series (December 2010)

This suite of data fact sheets which update some of the industry-specific occupations identified as middle-wage jobs, taking into consideration the far-reaching effects of the Great Recession. These fact sheets highlight definitions of industries and occupations, as well as identify current employment, future projections, and potential employers supporting these industries in Seattle-King County region.

Click here (PDF, 369 KB) for a summary page outlining the full spectrum of middle-wage occupations in currently demand in Seattle-King County.

The fact sheets detail the following industries and the middle-wage occupations that support them:

• Green (PDF, 293 KB)
• Logistics (PDF, 218 KB)
• Health Care (PDF, 231 KB)
• Professional & Business Services (PDF, 232 KB)
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) (PDF, 249 KB)

SJI Job Trends Reports

• SJI Job Trends Report: Manufacturing (PDF, 628KB) (October 2011)
• SJI Job Trends Report: Professional & Business Services (PDF, 710KB) (August 2011)
• SJI Job Trends Report: Green Jobs - An Update, October 2010 (PDF, 2MB)
• SJI Job Trends Report: Recession - 2 Year Report, February 2010 (PDF, 780K)
• SJI Job Trends Report: Focus on Public Utilities, January 2009 (PDF, 182K)
• SJI Job Trends Report: Focus on Green Jobs, July 2008 (PDF, 562K)
• Archived Labor Market Reports

Top Job Vacancies (September 2009)

Top Job Vacancies, jointly released by the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County and Seattle Jobs Initiative, analyzes the state’s April 2009 Job Vacancy Survey of King County employers.  The key feature of the report is a foldout chart showing the top 25 jobs and all industries arranged by number of job vacancies.

A Growing Green Economy: Opportunities of Tomorrow (April 2009)

Seattle Jobs Initiative recently completed a report for the National Network of Sector Partners on the growing green economy and sector strategies related to this growth. A Growing Green Economy: Opportunities of Tomorrow provides a foundation of knowledge about emerging green sectors, with particular emphasis on the Puget Sound region and the energy efficiency sector. Topics covered include policy, investment, labor marketing impacts and training opportunities. The work culminates in recommendations for others who are interested in doing similar research and development in emerging green sectors. Funding support was provided by NNSP and the City of Seattle's Office of Economic Development.

Peer Learning Group Work

Seattle Jobs Initiative has been playing a convening role with local agencies and community colleges. The goal of the Peer Learning Group is to make recommendations on what system-wide college prep courses would look like. The following report, released in February 2009, includes recommendations from the collaborative group.

• On Ramps and Bridges: Building Community Pipelines to Community College Certificate and Degree Attainment

Meeting the Challenge of Developmental Education: A Workforce Perspective

Supporting Developmental Education Reform: Washington Works to Increase Student Success, March 2011 (PDF, 4 MB)

A new policy brief released by Seattle Jobs Initiative, Supporting Developmental Education Reform: Washington Works to Increase Student Success, highlights the challenges that community colleges face to help under-prepared students gain the fundamental academic skills they need to succeed in college. As workforce agencies throughout the country implement programs to help individuals earn long-term certificates and degrees, it is vitally important that the agencies, and their students, understand the developmental education system that the students will enter.

This brief looks at the structure of current developmental education programs in Washington State, and at the potential impact of those programs on students seeking professional/technical credentials. The brief outlines the efforts that Washington’s community colleges are making to improve developmental education and ties these efforts to national policy recommendations and research on innovations to increase student success. The brief emphasizes the critical importance that implementation of national policy recommendations for sharing data on developmental practices and outcomes will have to the success of workforce college attainment programs.

A Survey of U.S. and Washington State Postsecondary Attainment Data (August 2009)

SJI completed a survey on the rates of postsecondary attainment in the United States and in Washington State among different demographic groups, with a focus on community college attainment. The survey provides some additional data on the association between wages and attainment level in Washington State.

• A Survey of U.S. and Washington State Postsecondary Attainment Data (PDF, 570KB)

Charting a Path National Report (June 2009)

Supported by the Working Poor Families Project as well as the City of Seattle Office of Economic Development, this report examines the role the state can play in instituting the career pathways framework, which can be a key strategy for linking low-income, low-skilled adults to education and training that leads to family supporting jobs.  The report should serve as a resource for other states that are interested in utilizing a career pathways framework.

• Charting a Path: An Exploration of the Statewide Career Pathway Efforts in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin (PDF, 12MB)

SJI Policy Updates
SJI has created summaries for its partners and stakeholders to keep them up-to-date about key policy and labor market information.

• November 2010 Policy Update (PDF, 1.2 MB)
• July 2010 Policy Update (PDF, 68 KB)
• May 2010 Policy Update (PDF, 64 KB)
• September 2009 Policy Update (PDF, 129 KB)
• August 2009 Policy Update (PDF, 107 KB)
• July 2009 Policy Update (PDF, 149 KB)
• June 2009 Policy Update (PDF 129 KB)
• May 2009 Policy Update (PDF, 207 KB)
• March-April 2009 Policy Update (PDF, 205 KB)
• February 2009 Policy Update (PDF, 177 KB)

SJI Lessons Learned from King County Food Stamp Employment & Training (FSET) Pilot

• Lessons Learned: 6 Month Evaluation
• Lessons Learned: 6 Month Evaluation Attachment (Program Descriptions)
• Lessons Learned: 18 Month Evaluation
• Lessons Learned from Massachusetts, Texas, San Francisco and Wisconsin