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Study: Wyoming work force less diversified
Wyoming’s work force is less diversified than that of its neighbors, which hurts businesses trying to hold on to experienced employees, a study has concluded.
Associated Press Billings Gazette
The study by the state Department of Employment’s Research and Planning Section of 22 major occupational groups found Wyoming has a higher proportion of jobs in construction, mining, transportation, social sciences and food-service preparation than surrounding states.
Conversely, the state has a smaller percentage in business and financial operations, computer and mathematical occupations, arts, entertainment, sports, media, sales and administrative support.
Research showed 10.1 percent of the state’s work force is in food preparation and serving, compared to 7.7 percent nationally. Of surrounding states, only Montana, at 10.2 percent, is higher.
The study found 9.7 percent of the state’s workers are in construction and extraction, higher than each neighboring state and far above the national average of 4.9 percent.
The study also indicated Wyoming’s largest occupations rely on more on-the-job training than post-secondary training or education.
"As a result, experience may be more valuable than education for many occupations," researchers Deana Hauf and Craig Radden Henderson wrote in an article in Wyoming Labor Force Trends, the Department of Employment’s monthly newsletter.
"Even among occupations requiring education, experience may still be necessary to gain employment. However, how can workers gain experience with fewer in-state opportunities available within so many occupational groups?
"This is one dilemma facing Wyoming’s labor market."
The article said less occupational diversity increases Wyoming’s dependence on fewer experienced workers.
"Presumably, this dependence leaves the state more vulnerable to unexpected shifts in the regional or national labor demand."
Without planning, economic growth outside Wyoming could result in higher costs and loss of institutional memory when competition for skilled workers increases, Hauf and Henderson wrote.
It is likely that many workers hold jobs unrelated to their education or job training due to the lack of occupational diversity, the researchers said.
"These workers may be poised to seek jobs when openings in their chosen field do occur," they wrote.
The report said that while there is a perception Wyoming has too few good jobs, "perhaps a more accurate statement would be that the higher concentration of employment within fewer occupational groups limits the scope, diversity and attractiveness of available career paths that are more plentiful elsewhere."
The study found 13.8 percent of the state’s work force is in office and administrative support; 10.1 percent in food services; 9.7 percent in construction and extraction; and 9.3 percent in transportation and material moving.
Also, 6.5 percent are in education, training and library occupations; 6.1 percent in installation, maintenance and repair; 5.8 percent in management; 5.4 percent in production; 4.4 percent in health care; and 4.1 percent in cleaning and maintenance.
The study found 0.3 percent of the work force in farming, fishing and forestry, which is below the national average of 0.4 percent. Of neighboring states, the percentage ranges from 0.2 percent in Colorado and Utah to 1.1 percent in Idaho.
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Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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