Quality of Life Indicators

TMCC workforce development-related program enrollments -- new 8/11

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basic workforce readiness -- updated 11/11

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The Hamilton Project, Strategy Paper, Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney, November 2011:
Building America’s Job Skills with Effective Workforce Programs: A Training Strategy to Raise Wages and Increase Work Opportunities

Nevadaworks receives federal funding from the US Department of Labor through the Workforce Investment Act. Local workforce training programs are developed through an RFP process with funding available to public, private, nonprofit organizations, government and education agencies, and partnerships. The investment area in northern Nevada includes 13-counties (Carson City, churchill, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt,Lander, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Storey, Washoe and White Pine). Nevada JobConnect is the one-stop job system for these workforce programs, operated by the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

NV Energy and Nevadaworks commissioned a Labor Market Assessment of Western Nevada, May 2009 for a 40-mile radius including the cities of Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Minen, Gardnerville, Dayton and Fernley. The report covers regional employer concerns, educational and training resources, and future demand projections. Several important findings include the following:

• Larger concentration of "young and working-age residents," but the workforce is generally older than the national average
• Region's residents are generally better educated than the national and state averages, but not when it comes to graduate or professional degrees
• High concentrations of employees with "key knowledge-based occupations" (arts/design/entertainment/media, financial specialists, legal, and management) but not engineering or technical talent
• Transition to more economic diversification
• Region's quality of life aids recruitment from other parts of the country
• Hotel/gaming employment base impacts a low average wage
• Tourism and recreational image outweighs that of business
• Absence of state-level public support for education

In April 2009, Northern Nevada Business Weekly reported on an AARP survey showing that 58% of Washoe County businesses have had problems finding qualified workers over the past 5-years, and 86% will struggle to find talent over the next 5-years. As our aging population retires, workforce readiness and development will be critical. Employees won't always have the skills employers expect, but investing in your workforce will likely improve productivity, reduce turnover, improve safety and reduce on the job injuries, all benefiting the bottom line. In TMT’s December 2007 community survey, 39.6% of respondents reported having taken a class or participated in a training related to their employment in the past year, while 36.8% reported no training; 53.8% of respondents reported being able to get the technology training that they need to advance vs. only 12.4% reporting they couldn’t get technology training. This compares to 59% of TMT’s November 2007 business eSurvey respondents reporting that they are able to hire employees who have the technology training and skills they need in this area while 88% of business respondents reported being willing to pay for workforce development training for their employees if it’s needed; 80% of business respondents reported the cost of living as the biggest barrier to hiring a skilled workforce.

graduates staying to work in the region -- updated 8/12/11

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Although more than half of UNR graduate applicants plan to work in Nevada, far more will likely work in the region. The UNR Office of University Assessment, alumni survey report on employment of undergraduate and graduate degree recipients from August 2000-December 2009 (total number of respondent interviews = 10,954 our of 21,000 grads) reported the majority of alumns working in Nevada (for additional findings):

• 792/ 9% reported “location” as the main reason for choosing their current position

• 6,697/ 76% employed in Nevada

• 2,836/ 80% public sector vs. 3,861/74% private sector

• 5,099/ 76% employed in Washoe County

• 461/ 7% in Carson City

• 467/ 7% in Clark County

UNR Career Development reports that internships are the number one way that employers identify new employees. Employers also rate participating in an internship as the top career development tool you can utilize. The university offers credit for internships through its Career Development Internship Program Course, ACE 400.

UNR Career Center