ERIC Number: EJ1172954
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Sep
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1554-754X
EISSN: N/A
Too Few Skills for Some, Too Many Skills for Others: Are Future Rural Employment Opportunities a Poor Match for the Rural Labor Supply?
Eades, Daniel C.; Hughes, David W.
Career and Technical Education Research, v42 n2 p79-101 Sep 2018
Researchers and practitioners are aware of the importance of the skills of the local workforce in attracting and developing businesses in a regional economy. There has been, however, relatively little applied research concerning the identification of labor skill gaps in rural areas. We seek to address this issue through a case study of the Upper Savannah Region of South Carolina (a seven-county nonmetropolitan area with a micropolitan core). We evaluate the quality of the local workforce (based on ACT WorkKeys test scores) and estimate skills gaps between available skill clusters and projected occupation and skill demands. Not surprisingly, our research showed little future demand for the relatively large set of workers with low skills. Unexpectedly, however, our findings also indicated a large supply of high skill workers with local businesses projected to have relatively little demand for their services. Local policy recommendations include retraining programs for low skill workers, using the pool of underutilized high skill workers as a means of attracting outside businesses, and encouraging the skilled workers to consider entrepreneurship through small business development efforts.
Descriptors: Job Skills, Rural Areas, Agricultural Occupations, Employment Opportunities, Labor Supply, Case Studies, Skilled Workers, Entrepreneurship, Small Businesses
Association for Career and Technical Education Research. Web site: http://acteronline.org/publications/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Carolina
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A