The Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation released the “2010-11 Regional Targeted Occupations List” for its statewide workforce regions, including the six-county area of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns.
A review of targeted jobs for the Jacksonville area finds that the fastest-growing occupations are in computers and maintenance, while the highest-paid entry-level jobs are computer and information-systems managers.
To be considered a targeted job the criteria called for jobs with required certification or community college credit or a degree; at least 25 annual job openings and positive growth; and an average hourly wage of at least $12.80 and an average minimum hourly entry wage of about $10.40. High-skill, high-wage occupations are those with at least an average hourly wage of $20.06 and an average hourly entry wage of $12.80.
In the Jacksonville region, the top 10 targeted occupations among three measures:
• By entry-level hourly wage, all 10 were high-skill, high-wage, led by the computer and information-systems managers at an entry-level wage of an average $41.71. However, the agency reported just 26 openings a year.
The highest number of openings at the highest average entry-level pay came in the category of medical and health services managers, at $30.25 an hour with 367 openings a year.
• The top targeted jobs ranked by annual percentage growth were led by network systems and data communications analysts. The annual percentage growth in those jobs was reported at 4.76 percent, with an average hourly entry wage of $22.38. The second was medical assistants, at 4.22 percent and $10.96.
• The top jobs by the number of annual openings was the category of general maintenance and repair workers, at 1,423 openings a year at an average entry-level pay of $10.36 an hour. Customer service representatives came in second at 1,026 openings a year at entry pay averaging $11.03.
Click here for a full list of targeted occupations for 2010-11 or check out the Recommended Reading list to your right.
Read the full article online, “Targeted jobs and where to find them” (9-21-10) by Karen Brune Mathis at the Financial News and Daily Record go to
http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=531919
The article and jobs list seem to underscore the need to make improvement in area educational systems a key part of a regional economic re-development plan. The region has state colleges (formerly called “community colleges”) that can play a key role in such a plan. One of these colleges has been very responsive and has aggressively adapted to meet regional educational needs. Though responsive to emerging educational needs, these colleges are impeded by the skill deficits of entering students. Though the majority of new students enter with an array of basic skill deficits, reading skill deficits more pronounced and most restrictive to educational growth. Given that jobs of the future will likely require some higher education (i.e., community college credit and/or post-secondary certification), it seems essential that efforts be made to improve the K-12 education system. The regional higher education institutions need to be involved in development of a regional economic development plan and key players in execution of that plan.
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