MetroWest, Greater Marlborough Buck State Job Slump
Information, manufacturing post job losses
The employment picture in MetroWest is better than in Massachusetts as a whole, but the area still faces many of the same challenges as the rest of the state.
That was the message presented by Maureen Dunne of the Framingham State College MetroWest Economic Research Center at a recent event sponsored by the MetroWest and Marlborough Regional Chambers of Commerce.
Service Economy
The types of jobs that are growing and shrinking presented some cause for concern, she said. The two sectors with the highest paid jobs, information and manufacturing, saw job losses between 2001 and 2005, while the most growth came in somewhat lower paid sectors including professional business services and health and education.
Dunne said businesses are also getting smaller. The two regions saw a net gain of about 500 establishments between 2001 and 2005, but many of those that disappeared were manufacturers with relatively high numbers of employees. While the average business has 17 employees, Dunne said, the average manufacturer has 62.
Also at the breakfast meeting, Verizon Human Resources Director Denice C. Ware discussed corporations' work force needs.
Ware said Verizon has moved toward "just in time" employment, meaning it needs to get new workers up to speed quickly. She said the company depends on employees coming to them with relevant training, especially high-level computer literacy and knowledge of specific technologies.
Partners In Education
To make sure enough workers with those kinds of qualifications are available, she said the company is working with local schools to educate students in ways that are relevant to employers. She said the Verizon Foundation also supports nonprofits that promote literacy and understanding of technology to improve the quality of the work force.
Ware said the MetroWest area is well-placed to grow economically because of its technological infrastructure, including Verizon's high-speed FIOS service.
That's especially important, she said, because 50 percent of businesses started in the past year are Internet-based.
On the other hand, Ware said, the loss of educated workers to other states is a serious problem. In exit interviews she said she hears about many employees leaving the area seeking a lower cost of living and more social opportunities.
Ware also praised a recent report on jobs in the state by MassINC, whose executive vice president, John Schneider, also spoke at the meeting. Ware said people in the state's corporate sector have been examining the report for ideas about their future plans, just as they looked at the 2000 census.
In his talk, Schneider said that Massachusetts has seen a recent drop in its share of both jobs as a whole and high-tech jobs in particular. The state went from having 4.2 percent of the nation's technology jobs in 2000 to 3.9 percent in 2005. Biotechnology was a bright point, rising from 4.5 percent to 4.9 percent during that time, but Schneider said the total number of jobs in the industry is still small, and it's hard to predict how it will do in the future.
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