Studer Community Institute

New index shows Northwest Florida trails nation in skilled, educated workers

February 13, 2015
/ Jeffrey Cassady
/ economy

Northwest Florida’s warm weather and low-tax environment might make it a pleasant place to live, but communities here are struggling to attract and retain skilled workers. Recent research by the University of West Florida Haas Center found that the Pensacola and Panama City areas have a harder time attracting and keeping skilled workers than do other metro areas around the country. However, Okaloosa County – defined as the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metropolitan statistical area – does a slightly better job than the country as a whole at offering quality jobs to skilled laborers. “Maintaining high average wages is an increasing challenge for Florida,” said UWF economist Rick Harper, who serves as director of the Studer Institute and oversees the University’s Office of Economic Development and Engagement. “Some of our fastest business growth has been in meeting the needs of tourist and retiree customers, and these sectors tend to have lower-than-average wages. That doesn’t create the labor force that will draw high-tech, high-wage businesses to the state. We have a pressing need to build skill sets that will earn enough to support families.” College-educated and other skilled workers generally earn more than their low-skill counterparts. In addition, they tend to raise incomes in the areas in which they reside by creating jobs and convincing firms that employ skilled workers to relocate or expand in the region. A dearth of jobs requiring a college education or special skill set can create a situation in which skilled workers who want to stay in an area must accept lower pay or take positions that aren’t commensurate with their skill level. Faced with that kind of choice, such workers might choose to migrate to areas that provide better jobs and a larger professional community. “This is one thing that can affect migration of skilled workers to a region,” said Soheil Nadimi, the Haas Center economist who conducted the analysis. The Haas Center’s findings are presented in its new Jobs Skills Index. Over the past few months, Nadimi analyzed May 2009-May 2011 wage data by occupation for Florida’s 22 metro areas and 347 metro areas around the country, with the exception of Washington D.C. “In areas that rank highly on the skills index, educated workers would be part of a cluster of skilled workers where it is more likely that they could develop professionally,” Nadimi said.

The Haas Center study controlled for factors that could skew a metro area’s index score. Those factors included differences in the price of goods and services from area to area, sudden shocks to labor supply or demand and the presence of regional amenities, such as universities and state facilities. “A specific occupation can raise an area’s Job Skills Index score if it requires higher-than-average skill levels and the share of the occupation in that area is higher than the national average, or if it requires lower-than-average skills but the area’s share of the occupation is lower than the national average,” Nadimi said. Okaloosa County placed ninth in the index with a score of 1.3, above the national metro area average, which was set to zero. The Pensacola area, which includes neighboring Santa Rosa County, ranked 11th on the list with a score of -0.9, while Panama City came in 15th, generating an index score of -4.4. Both clocked in below the national average. Tallahassee topped the list of Florida metro areas with a score of 8.6. Meanwhile, the Palm Coast area, which is just south of St. Augustine on the state’s Atlantic coast, ranked lowest among Florida’s 22 metros with a score of -9.3 The west-of-Tallahassee metro areas did better when compared to their counterparts around the state. Florida’s 22 metro areas had an average index score of -1. The Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area scored 2.3 points better than the state average, while the Pensacola area notched just 0.1 points above the state average. The Panama City area trailed the rest of Northwest Florida at 3.4 points below the state average. Below are the complete rankings with each metro area’s index score:

Tallahassee, 8.6
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, 7.9
Gainesville, 4.9
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, 4.4
Jacksonville, 3.3
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, 2.3
Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, 2.2
Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, 1.6
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, 1.3 National average, zero
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, -0.3
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, -0.9 State average, -1
Lakeland-Winter Haven, -1.5
Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, -2.6
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, -4.3
Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach, -4.4
Port St. Lucie, -4.6
Ocala, -4.7
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, -4.9
Naples-Marco Island, -6.4
Sebastian-Vero Beach, -6.5
Punta Gorda, -8.6
Palm Coast, -9.3

Compared to other states, Florida lags in attracting and retaining skilled and educated workers, Haas Center research found. Florida ranked 39th among the 50 states in the skills index. Massachusetts topped the list, and Nevada came in last. Jeffrey Cassady is a writer for the Haas Center. He covers Northwest Florida business and economic issues.

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New index shows Northwest Florida trails nation in skilled, educated workers

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