Ulster County Laborshed Report

The Pathfinders, a Dallas based firm that provides services in the areas of strategic planning for economic development, corporate site selection, feasibility studies, and workforce analysis, recently completed an Ulster County Area Workforce Report. This Report represents the objective and professional view of The Pathfinders with regard to workforce availability, cost, skills, and quality that a new employer can expect in the Ulster County area.

It is widely recognized that in virtually every instance, the local workforce is a dominant factor in a company's choice of a new location or decision to expand. This factor was the principal impetus for the development of this Report.

The data in this Report refers only to those people who indicate a desire to change or upgrade their job and have the skills, experience and education to qualify them for a job at the salary they desire. Therefore the report addresses only that segment of the workforce that contains potential candidate employees for a new employer.

Findings

There are six counties in the Report area that comprise the labor shed. Within this area the Report found:

	A civilian workforce of about 486,300 workers.
	Approximately 21,200 unemployed workers.
	32,600 currently employed workers having an interest in changing jobs and those workers who possess the skills experience, and education that would appear to qualify them for a job upgrade at the pay rate they specify to change jobs.
	There are roughly 16,400 people, neither employed nor seeking work, who might re-enter the workforce for the proper job.

Experience and skill categories are used in the Report to provide accurate workforce data for employers. The skills are in four broad groups:

	Manufacturing, assembly, fabrication and other industrial operations.
	Back office, data processing, call centers, information technology, customer service or sales operations.
	Distribution or transportation operations.
	Biotechnology, pharmaceuticals or medical research operations.

In the Ulster County area underemployed workers were most experienced in office operations, sales, customer care, and management/account management and processing. The workers were most skilled in office operations, management, manufacturing/assembly/fabrication and warehouse/materials handling. Of the underemployed individuals, almost 31% have some college experience, 20% have associate degrees, and another 33% have earned four-year college degrees or higher.

The Report documents the number of underemployed workers in the labor shed who would be available for an employer at various rates ranging from $8.00 per hour or below to $30.00 per hour or above. The pay rates they specify to take a new job are reasonable when compared to their existing pay rates. About 25% of those workers would take a new job for about $14.12 per hour or less. At the upper end, the 25% most qualified and experienced will command more than $30.74 per hour.

Conclusion

The Report's findings indicate that the Ulster County labor shed contains a workforce that has both quality and quantity. As the data shows, there exists potential employees that are experienced, trained, and accessible.

Click here to view the report in pdf format.