2012 AUGUST-MASHPEE EDIC Plan for Executive Park

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Economic Resource Base Labor Force Issues The Cape, like many other regions in New England, is an economy in transition. Increasingly, the skills of the workforce do not match the needs of existing employers, nor the types of businesses that are being targeted for the region. Issues of workforce development must be looked at as a regional concern. A number of sources were used to identify the labor force in Mashpee and the surrounding area. The 1990 Census is the best source of information specific to Mashpee. The available workforce (the unemployed) was characterized from Department of Employment and Training data. These sources were augmented with interviews with education and training professionals, community leaders, and local residents. While the vast majority of Mashpee residents have received their high school diploma, fewer local residents pursue college education than is the norm across Massachusetts. This could put Mashpee at a disadvantage in attracting or developing high skill-high wage jobs. In both 1980 and 1990, the percentage of high school graduates was higher in Mashpee than in the state or the nation, at an impressive 91 percent of town residents. The percentage of residents with a four-year college degree,however, was less than that statewide, more on a par with national figures. The lack of adequate education clearly is a factor in unemployment and underemployment of Mashpee residents. While 8 percent of heads of household above the poverty level do not have a high school degree, among poor families that number rises to 37.3 percent, and 58.3 percent of poor minority householders. o The working age population shows higher levels of educational attainment than does the retiree population. Mashpee's younger population is far more likely to have completed both high school and college as compared to their senior counterparts. The working age population, particularly that under the age of 60, shows higher rates of high school and college completion. However, Mashpee's "working age" population is somewhat skewed because of the large number of older residents. Many of the presumed "retirees" have, in fact, not fully retired. More than a third of the population between the ages 60 and 69 is still in the labor force. While a substantial portion of Mashpee residents work in either managerial or professional occupations, a large number of residents are also service and construction workers. Approximately 33 percent of residents work in either a managerial, professional, or technical capacity. Specifically,the Town has an unusually large percentage of residents with managerial jobs, while it is actually slightly underrepresented in professional occupations and greatly underrepresented in technical occupations. Fourteen percent of residents work in the category of "precision production, craft, and repair," which includes all of the construction crafts, compared to 12 percent in Barnstable County, and 10 percent in Massachusetts. Over 4 percent of Mashpee's employed labor force are carpenters. Almost 16 percent of Mashpee residents work in service occupations (examples include policemen, firemen, teachers, waitresses, guards, custodians, and nurses), compared to 13 percent statewide. The largest group are employed in food service occupations, which comprise 5.5 percent of the Mashpee labor force. While there is a relatively large and available supply of residents looking for full-time, year-round employment, the skill base in the region is relatively shallow. More than two-thirds of the unemployed previously worked in either services or retail. Employers looking for workers with technical skills must often import labor from off the Cape. 7