INDIANA CREATING FEWER PROFESSIONAL JOBS THAN NEIGHBORS
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Indiana's economy is not creating professional positions in higher-skilled fields that have bolstered the nation's economy in recent years, warns a Ball State University study.
In examining the patterns of job growth nationwide since 1988, researchers for the Bureau of Business Research found that three out of every four new jobs created in the last 11 years have been in the two relatively high paying occupational categories of professional and specialty occupations, and executive and managerial occupations.
The bad news is that Indiana has a relatively low proportion of its labor force in both of these categories. Indiana's labor force is more concentrated in middle-paying, semi-skilled and skilled occupations that have ranked last nationally in jobs growth this decade, said Patrick Barkey, bureau director.
"Indiana's share in what is nationally the fastest growing occupational category, professional and specialty occupations, is lower than every other state in the nation," he said. "From 1992-97, only 9.3 percent of workers in Indiana were in this category, significantly lower than even our industrial neighbors to the north, east, and west.
"While 48 states saw their employment shares increase in these kinds of jobs since the 1980's, Indiana and one other state (North Dakota) actually saw the proportion of these high paying, skill intensive jobs in their states go down."
Barkey said that since more than half of those with college degrees end up either in professional or in administrative/managerial jobs, the relative lack of those jobs here is the reason why Indiana ranks near the bottom in most measures of educational attainment beyond high school.
The study also found that more college-age young people in Indiana opt for full-time jobs, and fewer choose college than their counterparts in neighboring states. "The statistics bear out the notion that Indiana has fewer college-educated adults because the jobs that typical employ those with college degrees -- higher skill white collar jobs -- are less plentiful in the state," Barkey said.
With relatively fewer opportunities at home, the results of the study suggest that more of those who do graduate from Indiana colleges end up leaving the state, he said.
Barkey believes that one of the most powerful insights of the report was that it compared Indiana not to the nation, but to peer states in the Midwest. Ohio, Michigan and Illinois are states that all have a high reliance on manufacturing. However, in each of those states the growth in jobs requiring professional credentials has outstripped the growth here.
"The U.S. economy is transforming itself from one that primarily produces goods, to one that emphasizes knowledge, expertise and services," Barkey said. "The two occupational categories that rank last in job growth nationally since 1988 -- operators/fabricators, and production, craft and repair -- have a significant presence here in Indiana. That's great for our state economy, since these are good paying jobs. But it's hardly a comforting thought as we move further into the future."
(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Barkey by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (765) 285-5926. For more stories visit the Ball State University News Center at www.bsu.edu/news on the World Wide Web)
Marc Ransford 3-29-99
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