Oregon Job Vacancies
October 2008
Job Vacancies in the Portland Tri-County Area
Lynn Wallis, Workforce Analyst, Lynn.N.Wallis@state.or.us, (971) 673-6453
About the Survey
Helping Oregonians find good jobs requires taking a close look at the staffing needs of the business community. Every job opening represents an opportunity for someone to gain experience, begin a career, or supplement their family’s income. Which businesses are hiring? What positions are going unfilled? Why are companies having difficulty filling these positions? The May 2008 Job Vacancy Survey was designed to help answer these questions. Thousands of firms in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties were contacted about their immediate workforce needs and the nature of current job openings. Essentially, we asked Portland area businesses if they had a “Help Wanted” sign in the window and to tell us a little bit about their job openings. The goal is to help all the partners in the economy – businesses, schools, training providers, policy makers, and job seekers – see where the available workforce may be falling short. Asking about the workforce needs of Portland area businesses is the first step in an ongoing process to improve awareness of available jobs in the community. The next steps are to listen to and understand what local businesses are saying and to work together to address challenges. The objective of the survey, and this report, is to contribute to that process.
Executive Summary
In May 2008, there were an estimated 22,300 job vacancies in the Portland area (Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties). One-fifth of those job vacancies went unfilled for two months or longer. Many occupations had vacancies. The 25 occupations with the most vacancies represented only 41 percent of all area job vacancies, suggesting that a wide range of occupations beyond just those 25 are going unfilled. From an industry perspective, health care, professional and technical services, and retail trade had the most job vacancies. Combined, these three industries represented 42 percent of all Portland-area vacancies. On average, 44 percent of vacancies require education beyond high school and 51 percent require a license or certificate. There is a significant difference, though, in educational requirements among particular industries. For example, a large share of industry vacancies (62 to 83%) requiring education beyond high school were seen in health care, professional and technical services, educational services, management of companies, and information. Conversely, a much smaller share of vacancies (2 to 5%) requiring education beyond high school were reported by the accommodation and food services, agriculture, and retail trade industries. Of the vacancies with wage information reported, nearly one-third paid
a wage of at least $20 an hour, while 27 percent paid less than $10 an hour.
Top 25 Jobs in Demand
The top jobs in demand in the Portland area are spread across a wide range of occupations and skill levels. Registered nurses had, by far, the largest number of vacancies (1,605) representing over 7 percent of all job vacancies. The next largest vacancies were for retail salespersons (658); laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (587); and nursing aides (545). For all other occupations, no single occupation represented as much as 3 percent of total job vacancies, indicating the wide range of positions in the area going unfilled. Over one-fifth of all job vacancies have existed for 60 or more days. Occupations in transportation, health care, construction, and personal care and services had much higher rates of long-term vacancy.
Job Vacancies by Industry
The health care, professional and technical, and retail trade industries had the most job vacancies. Combined, these three industries represented over two-fifths of all Portland area vacancies. Of all open jobs, 44 percent required education beyond high school and over half required a license or certificate. Of health care industry job vacancies, 80 percent required a license or certificate, the highest of any industry, suggesting
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Oregon Job Vacancies
October 2008
Table 1
Top 25 Occupations in the Portland Tri-County Area With the Highest Number of Job Vacancies, May 2008 Job Vacancies 22,300 1,605 658 587 545 487 431 413 355 340 339 324 290 276 259 246 242 229 209 204 204 197 194 192 183 182 Share of Total Vacancies 100.0% 7.2% 3.0% 2.6% 2.4% 2.2% 1.9% 1.9% 1.6% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.3% 1.2% 1.2% 1.1% 1.1% 1.0% 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 0.8% 0.8% Vacant 60+ Days 21% 14% 15% 75% 44% 13% 11% 14% 31% 3% 11% 11% 5% 7% 100% 11% 14% 6% 11% 100% 21% 8% 8% 31% 5% 9%
Occupation All Occupations Registered Nurses Retail Salespersons Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants Customer Service Representatives Waiters and Waitresses Cashiers Stock Clerks and Order Fillers Cooks, Restaurant General and Operations Managers Computer Software Engineers, Applications Computer Systems Analysts Computer Programmers Construction Laborers Computer Support Specialists Food Preparation Workers Mechanical Engineers Industrial Engineers Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists Accountants and Auditors Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Vocational Education Maintenance and Repair Workers, General Medical and Health Services Managers Financial Managers Janitors and Cleaners
Table 2
Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies by Industry, May 2008 Requiring Newly Education Created Beyond Positions High School 2% 44% 0% 62% 0% 83% 1% 5% 14% 15% 0% 2% 0% 71% 1% 52% 3% 44% 2% 67% 2% 29% 6% 71% 2% 34% 2% 17% 7% 11% 5% 12% 0% 24% 7% 3%
Industry All Industries Health Care and Social Assistance Professional and Technical Retail Trade Administrative and Waste Services Accommodation and Food Services Educational Services Finance and Insurance Manufacturing Management of Companies Other Services Information Wholesale Trade Transportation and Warehousing Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation Real Estate and Rental and Leasing Construction Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
Vacancies 22,300 5,130 2,210 1,934 1,625 1,620 1,597 1,479 1,437 923 872 730 661 584 542 518 291 147
Requiring License or Certificate 51% 80% 24% 28% 15% 65% 79% 53% 30% 49% 62% 33% 52% 44% 48% 31% 40% 9%
that training is a significant part of the hiring challenge. Conversely, only 2 percent of openings in accommodation and food services, 3 percent of openings in agriculture, and 5 percent of openings in retail trade required education beyond a high school diploma. Only 2 percent of all job vacancies were newly created positions, suggesting that the vast majority of job openings are created by turnover as opposed to economic growth. Newly created positions make up 14 percent of administrative and waste services industry jobs, the highest of any industry.
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Oregon Job Vacancies
October 2008
Job Vacancies by Size of Business
The majority of vacancies were reported by companies with 100 to 249 employees (30%) and companies with 250 or more employees (29%). The largest companies had a larger share of vacancies requiring higher education. The overall job vacancy rate, the number of vacancies divided by the number of filled jobs, was 2.7 percent. Firms with less than 20 employees had an average vacancy rate under 1.0 percent, while firms with 100 or more employees had a vacancy rate at or near 6.0 percent. Firms having 250 or more workers required education beyond high school for nearly two-thirds of their vacancies. Job vacancies at smaller companies were less likely to require an education beyond high school.
Graph 1
Share of Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies Requiring Education Beyond High School by Size of Firms, May 2008
70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% <10 10 to 19 20 to 49 50 to 99 100 to 249 250 and up Employees
Table 3
Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies by Firm Size, May 2008 Newly Created Positions 2% 2% 1% 8% 2% 1% 1% Requiring Education Beyond High School 44% 20% 29% 24% 44% 39% 63% Requiring License or Certificate 51% 56% 46% 32% 48% 50% 63% Requiring Previous Experience 73% 62% 68% 50% 80% 69% 87%
Number of Employees Total <10 10-19 20-49 50-99 100-249 250 and up
Vacancies 22,300 637 516 3,232 4,595 6,745 6,575
Vacancy Rate* 2.7% 0.6% 0.5% 2.9% 4.1% 6.0% 5.9%
Full-Time Positions 74% 66% 70% 55% 78% 77% 78%
Permanent Positions 90% 95% 95% 63% 93% 92% 97%
* Vacancies divided by employment in first quarter 2008
Graph 2
Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies by Educational Requirement, May 2008
7,000 6,000 5,000
Job Vacancies
Job Vacancies by Education
About 90 percent of the reported vacancies included information on educational requirements. Of these, 49 percent required at least some college. Job openings that require more education are more likely to be fulltime. Only 52 percent of vacancies with no educational requirement were full-time positions compared to 90 percent of those jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree.
No Requirement
Bachelor's Degree
4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0
High School
Assoc./Voc. Degree Some College Graduate Degree Other
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Oregon Job Vacancies
October 2008
Of the roughly 5,700 vacancies that have no educational requirement, about 1,940 vacancies (34%) require previous work experience.
Table 4
Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies by Required Education Level, May 2008 Newly Created Positions 2% 6% 2% 2% 0% 1% 1% 2% 0% Requiring License or Certificate 51% 30% 55% 45% 82% 51% 82% 80% 48% Requiring Previous Experience 73% 34% 80% 84% 94% 96% 98% 37% 81%
Job Vacancies by Wage
Information on wages offered was included for 45 percent of the reported vacancies. Within this group, over one-half (58%) of those job openings paid from $7.95 to $14.99 an hour, while 30 percent paid $20 or more an hour. Not surprisingly, job openings that pay higher wages were much more likely to require post-secondary education. More than 90 percent of all job openings paying $25 an hour or more require some education beyond high school, compared to only 3 percent of jobs paying less than $10 an hour.
Required Education Level Total No Requirement High School Some College Assoc./Voc. Degree Bachelor's Degree Graduate Degree Other No Response
Vacancies 22,300 5,709 4,043 959 1,894 5,898 1,096 679 2,022
Full-time Positions 74% 52% 70% 84% 75% 90% 83% 73% 92%
Permanent Positions 90% 72% 91% 96% 96% 98% 95% 100% 96%
Graph 3
Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies by Wage, May 2008
$30 and up $7.95 to $9.99 $25.00 to $29.99
$20.00 to $24.99
Job Vacancies by Occupational Group
Job openings exist in every occupational group. The group with the most vacancies was healthcare practitioners and technical at almost 3,100 vacancies. This group includes
$10.00 to $14.99 $15.00 to $19.99
Table 5
Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies by Hourly Wage Range, May 2008 Newly Created Positions 2% 7% 4% 2% 7% 2% 3% 0% Requiring Education Beyond High School 44% 3% 22% 57% 60% 93% 98% 48% Requiring License or Certificate 51% 27% 45% 53% 56% 79% 76% 53% Requiring Previous Experience 73% 24% 59% 89% 87% 97% 99% 82%
Wage (per hour) Total $7.95 - $9.99 $10 - $14.99 $15 - $19.99 $20 - $24.99 $25 - $29.99 $30 and up Unspecified
Vacancies 22,300 2,706 3,094 1,123 1,178 812 1,046 12,341
Full-time Positions 74% 32% 68% 88% 72% 67% 75% 84%
Permanent Positions 90% 63% 86% 90% 70% 99% 96% 97%
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Oregon Job Vacancies
October 2008
occupations such as dentists, physicians, and registered nurses and is consistent with the relatively large number of vacancies in the health care and social assistance industry seen elsewhere in this report. The second largest group – office and administrative support – cuts across almost every industry. A few occupational groups stand out as having an unusually high percentage of openings vacant for 60 days or longer. With the exception of the legal and healthcare support occupations, most occupations having a high percentage of vacancies over 60 days – construction and extraction, transportation and material moving, production, and personal care and service – did not require postsecondary education.
Graph 4
Share of Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies Requiring Education Beyond High School by Hourly Wage Range, May 2008
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0% $7.95 to $9.99 $10.00 to $14.99 $15.00 to $19.99 $20.00 to $24.99 $25.00 to $29.99 $30 and up
Job Vacancies by Region
About half of Oregon’s job vacancies are located in the Portland Metro area – the six-county area surround-
ing Portland – Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill counties and Clark County in Washington state. The Willamette Valley with 11,089 openings had the second largest number of vacancies, accounting for 23 percent of
the state’s total. The Central Oregon / Columbia Gorge area had 5,746 vacancies, Southern Oregon had 3,298, the Oregon Coast had 2,429, and Eastern Oregon had 1,911.
Table 6
Portland Tri-County Area Job Vacancies by Occupational Group, May 2008 Requiring Education Beyond High School 44% 78% 19% 76% 1% 15% 89% 1% 74% 84% 49% 88% 13% 5% 5% 10% 47% 2% 68% 10% 84% 0% 92%
Occupational Group All Occupational Groups Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Fo O Office and Administrative Support Sa Management TrFood Preparation and Serving M Sales and Related Fa Computer and Mathematical P Transportation and Material Moving Ed Business and Financial Operations C Architecture and Engineering H Healthcare Support Pe Education, Training, and Library B Production In Personal Care and Service A Construction and Extraction B Installation, Maintenance, and Repair C Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media P Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance A Community and Social Services C Protective Service Li Life, Physical, and Social Science LeFarming, Fishing, and Forestry Legal
Vacancies 22,300 3,096 2,266 1,971 1,823 1,711 1,613 1,312 1,108 1,047 885 824 821 763 663 607 409 409 382 210 201 127 52
Full-time Positions 74% 69% 73% 98% 48% 52% 98% 58% 97% 99% 72% 76% 90% 67% 58% 90% 67% 68% 67% 44% 88% 19% 100%
Vacant 60+ Days 21% 17% 13% 15% 8% 23% 8% 47% 19% 12% 36% 5% 42% 41% 78% 28% 11% 13% 13% 9% 5% 0% 46%
Requiring License or Certificate 51% 95% 30% 42% 75% 22% 25% 39% 41% 36% 90% 83% 17% 51% 27% 50% 34% 26% 86% 60% 75% 0% 60%
Requiring Previous Experience 73% 97% 74% 95% 36% 49% 96% 36% 96% 92% 81% 91% 55% 35% 39% 81% 90% 49% 89% 73% 99% 13% 100%
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Conclusion
The May 2008 survey of businesses in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties found an estimated 22,300 job vacancies, of which one-fifth had been unfilled for two or more months. Long-term vacancies were highest in transportation, health care, construction, and personal care occupations. Vacancies spanned a wide range of occupations, with registered nurses and retail salespersons topping the list. Industries with the most job vacancies included health care, professional and technical services, and retail trade. These three sectors made up 40 percent of all vacancies in the area. Large firms (250 employees and more), high-wage offers, and professional related industries were more likely to require education beyond high school.
The tri-county region’s vacancies spanned a wide range of hourly wages, with 27 percent paying less than $10 per hour and one-third paying $20 or more per hour. Nearly
all vacancies paying hourly wages of $25 and more require education beyond high school.
Reports are also available for the following regions:
Central Oregon/Columbia Gorge (Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Hood River, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Sherman, Wasco, and Wheeler counties) Eastern Oregon (Baker, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa counties) Oregon Coast (Clatsop, Coos, Curry, Lincoln, and Tillamook counties) Portland Metro Area (Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon, plus Clark County in Washington) Southern Oregon (Douglas, Jackson, and Josephine counties) Willamette Valley (Benton, Lane, Linn, Marion, and Polk counties) Oregon statewide To request copies, contact lmipubs.emp@state.or.us or (503) 947-1204.
Oregon Job Vacancies is published by the Workforce & Economic Research Division of the Oregon Employment Department. Oregon Job Vacancies can be found under “Publications” on OED’s labor market information Web site, www.QualityInfo.org. Laurie Warner, Director Graham Slater, Administrator for Workforce & Economic Research Production Team: Art Ayre Nick Beleiciks Jim Lee Paul Marche Mark Miller Jessica Nelson Kathi Riddell Graham Slater Address changes: Workforce & Economic Research 875 Union Street NE, Rm 207 Salem, OR 97311
OregOn JOb Vacancies
State of Oregon EMPLOYMENT DEPARTMENT 875 Union Street NE Salem, Oregon 97311
or phone (503) 947-1204, TDD 1-800-237-3710, e-mail: lmipubs.emp@state.or.us
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