Rochester Area Skill Needs Assessment and Business Climate Survey, September 2013

Rochester Area Skill Needs Assessment and Business Climate Survey 7

Persistently Unfilled Positions

How many positions are persistently unfilled? The research team was particularly interested in learning more about the much-discussed “skills gap,” the assertion that many firms are hindered from growing because they are unable to fill key positions. If the “skills gap” can be identified and measured, it will help guide workforce development policy.

How many positions would businesses like to fill, but can’t due to a scarcity of qualified candidates? Survey respondents reported about 740 persistently unfilled positions.

To estimate the total number of unfilled positions across the entire economy, responses were averaged by size class, and unfilled positions were extrapolated to the entire economy based on the distribution of firms by size. This is a very rough approach to estimation. If correct, then the number of persistently unfilled positions in the Finger Lakes area would be about 23,000 across a range of occupations, something less than 5% of total occupied positions. The estimation would be more reliable if the survey respondents were a representative cross-section of the economy.

Which occupations are in short supply?

Based on the survey responses the following graphic and charts summarize the occupations that are persistently unfilled 5 . The size of the text relates to the number of positions. While impressionistic, the graphic puts the unfilled position response into perspective. Subsequent administrations of the survey will be designed to dig deeper. NOTE that this survey focused heavily on the manufacturing sector—the frequent mention of “CNC machinist” reflects this sample bias.

5 Responses are weighted by the number of positions the firm claims are unfilled.

Monroe Community College Center for Governmental Research Rochester Business Journal