Technology Workforce Month
This month's Local Look blogs from DEED's Labor Market Information office draw attention to the critical importance of the state's technology workforce and its key role in Minnesota’s economy. While the wide-ranging significance of their roles have been highlighted during the pandemic, Information Technology (IT) workers have been in demand in the marketplace for a long time – and will continue to be into the future.
With labor market data, Information Technology (IT) is most closely associated with Computer and Mathematical occupations. This major occupational group accounts for approximately 85,000 jobs in the Seven-County Metro Area, which represents over 85% of Minnesota's total employment in this group. compared to only 63% of the state's total employment across all occupational groups.
Information Technology (IT) is vital to Southwest Minnesota's economy, but it can be hard to quantify the full impact of IT because it is not separately classified with its own NAICS code. Sometimes confused for an industry, the IT field is actually better classified as a set of occupations, specifically Computer and Mathematical occupations. While focused more heavily in certain sectors, IT employment is actually spread across every industry, since every industry utilizes some amount of technology.
While technological advances may help manufacturing companies boost productivity and subsequently increase revenue, some people wonder if these technological advances are going to have an adverse effect on employees. Many experts believe that technology-driven automation will take the place of some parts of the manufacturing process currently carried out by humans.
Even before the pandemic recession, many Information Technology (IT) jobs were in high demand and were expected to be among the fastest growing into the future. But the rise in telework brought on by COVID-19 has made IT workers even more important, with rising numbers of job vacancies and above average projected growth rates, not to mention high wages.
As the economy and work trend more toward digital, Information Technology (IT) jobs have likewise increased in demand. In Northeast Minnesota, Computer and Mathematical occupations, which comprise the core of the IT workforce, account for an estimated 1,810 jobs. And while that represents less than 2% of total regional employment, Computer & Mathematical occupations are in high demand across a range of industries and are expected to see above average growth over the next decade.
The disproportionate share of job loss experienced by women can be attributed to the industries that women are employed in. Unlike the Great Recession, where job losses were highly concentrated in male dominated sectors like Manufacturing and Construction, the pandemic recession affected industries that employ a disproportionate amount of women – Health Care, Education, Accommodation and Food Services, and Other Services.
|
