Denver Metro Area Looks at Future Needs of Businesses, Workers

What does the workforce and employment situation look like through 2011 in the nine-county Denver metro area? A report released September 24 by the Denver Office of Economic Development and the Workforce Board of Metro Denver in Colorado provides an analysis of the workforce supply and demand in the region.

Mark Pingrey, chairman of the Workforce Board of Metro Denver, was quoted in a press release by the Denver Office of Economic Development as saying "The identification of occupational gaps provides one of the best indicators of where our workforce efforts can be best targeted." He indicated that this information aids targeting of training programs and efforts to link job seekers with employers, with a stronger economy as the ultimate result.

The counties included in the 72-page report, available at their site, are Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld. The analysis of "workforce supply, demand and occupational gaps" also includes specific investigation of industries affected by workforce gaps, and the results of focus groups held with business leaders in the affected industries. Skills, hiring, education/training and most important business needs were compiled from these groups.

The report, an expanded update of a 2004 study, covers an area of close to 3.2 million people, 575,300 of them in the City and County of Denver itself. The population, the report notes, is impacted by the number of "baby boomers" in the area, resulting in a decreasing "working age" population below 65. The ethnic diversity of the area is increasing, allowing companies to hire more ethnically diverse workforces.

With the percentage of residents in the study area with high school degrees in the 80's, and increased from 2000, the report predicts growth in fields that will require further education such as the healthcare, legal, education and sciences fields, the fastest growing occupations. Four major industries that employ a large number of the "workforce gap" occupations are business support/financial services, construction, healthcare, and information communication technology (ICT).

Focus group results indicated that, in many industries, lack of an adequate core education is a frustrating factor. Businesses indicated that they were willing to train workers in specific skills, but mathematics, science, writing and reading skills were required for most positions, and many candidates do not meet these requirements. A strong work ethic and solid professionalism is also lacking in many candidates. Businesses looking for employees who can contribute to their companies are finding many who instead want to see what they can get out of a position. The resulting turnover from lack of employee commitment has led to wasted training investments.

Multilingual workers are in high demand at all levels of many organizations. Overstated language proficiency when applying for jobs has often led to difficulties later as employees overestimated their abilities to communicate fluently in the languages required, the report notes.

Retiring older workers are being retrained and filling different needs in the workforce in their later years. Some older workers are being connected with younger workers to aid their development within the company.

In this time of transition in the Denver metro workforce, the latest workforce report indicates challenges in meeting certain skills and training needs, but focuses also on the need for a workforce which is prepared for the working world, and states "Educational institutions need to prepare youth for the business world through more hands-on experience and practical knowledge while giving them the basic skills they need to succeed." Denver is working hard to meet the needs of business and provide opportunities to workers, and the report is expected to help the Denver metro area meet those goals in specific ways.

"Regional Workforce Study Identifies Occupational Gaps", http://www.milehigh.com/newsdata/news/press-release/147

"Denver Regional Workforce Gap Report", http://www.milehigh.com//resources/custom/pdf/2007DenverRegionalWorkforceGapReport9-24-07FINAL.pdf