Made-in-America: Good ‘middle skill’ jobs exclude women, new report says
by March 27, 2016 7:32 am 230 views
Editor’s note: Each Sunday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Made In America,” a round-up of state and global manufacturing news.
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GOOD ‘MIDDLE-SKILL’ JOBS EXCLUDE WOMEN, NEW REPORT SAYS
Women hold only a third of positions in growing middle-skill jobs that pay at least $35,000 or as much as $102,000 per year, according to a new report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR).
These middle-skill jobs, which require a high school education but not a college degree, pay a living wage and can serve as a stepping stone to a higher-paying career for women workers, who now serve as the sole or co-breadwinner in half of American families.
The report, supported by JPMorgan Chase as part of its $250 million, five-year New Skills at Work initiative, analyzes jobs in the key growth sectors of manufacturing; information technology; and transportation, distribution and logistics (TDL), and compares the skills required for various lower-paid, female-dominated jobs to those required for higher-paying, male-dominated occupations.
GE TO MOVE CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS TO BOSTON
Industrial and manufacturing conglomerate GE announced last week that it locating its corporate headquarters to the Seaport District of Boston where the company has purchased a 2.5-acre property from Procter & Gamble that sits at the edge of its 44-acre South Boston campus.
GE said the new headquarters will include a combination of existing buildings and new construction. The purchase includes two historic buildings, which will be renovated, and an adjoining parking lot, on which GE will construct a new building. Employees will move to a temporary location in Boston on Farnsworth Street starting in the summer of 2016, with a full move completed in several steps by 2018.
GE first announced the move of its headquarters to Boston in January 2016. Boston was selected after a careful evaluation of the business ecosystem, talent, long-term costs, employee experience, connections with the world and proximity to other important company assets, including the region’s 55 colleges and universities, officials said. GE will sell its offices in Fairfield, Conn. and at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City to offset the cost of the move.
MOST U.S. METRO AREAS SEE LOSS OF MANUFACTURING JOBS IN PAST DECADE
From January 2006 to January 2016, employment in manufacturing decreased for most metropolitan areas. Over that period, El Centro, California, had the largest percentage decrease in manufacturing employment among areas (−60.0%). Lewiston, Idaho, had the largest percentage increase at 41.9%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.
Other areas with decreases in manufacturing employment larger than 40% over the past decade were Atlantic City-Hammonton, N.J. (−52.4%); Dothan, Ala. (−47.6%); Laredo, Texas (−46.2%); Flint, Mich. (−43.1%); Corvallis, Ore. (−40.8%); and Weirton-Steubenville, West Virginia-Ohio (−40.7%).
In Arkansas, the Fort Smith area had the highest loss of manufacturing jobs with -36.7%, followed by the Texarkana and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers areas at -24.6% and -22.7%, respectively. The Little Rock-Conway metro area saw a decline of -19.4%
Metropolitan areas with an increase in manufacturing employment of more than 30 percent were Mobile, Ala. (37.2%); Kennewick-Richland, Wash. (37%); and Florence-Muscle-Shoals, Ala. and Midland, Texas (33.3%). View the BLS data here.