The Variation Among Local Labor Markets

Not surprisingly, there are substantial differences among the four labor markets we examined. Indeed, the purpose of examining four communities--rather than analyzing a single labor market in greater detail--was to identify the ways in which sub-baccalaureate labor markets, with their intense local focus, vary from place to place. While further research in still other communities would uncover other kinds of variation, the most obvious variations include the following:

• Sophistication and pace of technical change: Frankton, with its base in agriculture and agricultural processing, was the least technically advanced of the four communities. Indeed, educators there complained that computer-based programs in machining and drafting were ahead of many employers who had not yet moved to computerized systems; and it was more common in Frankton to hear of production facilities which retained very old equipment. As a result, there is less demand on educators for technically sophisticated programs. Conversely, individuals who want to pursue certain occupations have to move elsewhere. (Frankton is unsophisticated in other ways as well: As an isolated and rural community, it has few of the urban amenities of the three other communities we examined.) At the other extreme, the Palmdale area is home to some of the most sophisticated high-tech firms in the nation; and Cotooli has also modernized its industry dramatically (partly in response to foreign competition) and has a large number of factories with leading technology.
• The influence of a dominant sector: Many local labor markets are dominated by a particular sector. In Frankton, it is agriculture and agricultural processing; in Cotooli, the manufacture of machinery with increasing high-tech applications; in the Palmdale area, the development and manufacture of computers, computer-related equipment, and software; and in Rosefield, probably the most varied of the four, banking, insurance, and government employment--all dominated by white-collar occupations--are the largest sectors.

Otherwise, however, the sectoral composition of local labor markets seems to make little difference (for a similar argument, see Grubb & McDonnell, 1991). One reason is simply that the occupations of sub-baccalaureate labor markets are quite common, with relatively large numbers in virtually any community (except the smallest): Every labor market has large numbers of secretaries, clerical workers, accountants, production technicians, nurses and health technicians, and the like. The problem that exists is at the baccalaureate level--where some markets are "thin" in the sense of having very few positions in specific occupations--and is much less serious in sub-baccalaureate labor markets.

• Idiosyncratic local problems: Every community has some purely local issues that weigh heavily on employers and education providers. In Frankton, for example, the fact that it is a relatively unsophisticated community with few urban amenities, and few nearby attractions makes it difficult to lure employees into the area; skilled and ambitious individuals tend to leave for places with a better quality of life and more employment opportunities. In the Palmdale area, congestion and high housing prices have made life difficult and prevent firms from recruiting outside the area. Cotooli, with its manufacturing base, has been seriously affected by the nationwide decline in manufacturing that took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Such issues appear over and over in remarks from both educators and employers; but within a study based on a small number of case studies--that is, four local labor markets--there is no way to generalize about such effects.
• Education and training providers: Finally, there were substantial differences among our four communities in the ways the providers of education and training related to employers.[39] Relations were closest in Cotooli, largely because of a well-established co-op program. In addition, the state requires that programs with placements below seventy-five percent be reviewed for possible elimination, providing another incentive for close working relations. Many employers in Rosefield--particularly those hiring electronics technicians--have also established good working relations with particular community colleges. The reputations of several community colleges in the Palmdale area were also relatively good, though that does not mean employers hire from these institutions (as the "Employers in the Sub-Baccalaureate Labor Market" section will clarify). Finally, connections were weakest in Frankton, where a majority of employers we interviewed were critical of local education providers.

It is tempting to draw a link between the technological development within a community and the nature of the relations between educators and employers. In Frankton, which is relatively unsophisticated technically, there appears to be less concern with skill development and formal schooling--one individual remarked, "Frankton is not education-oriented"; and the majority of employers we interviewed were either indifferent to local education providers or openly critical of them. In Cotooli, with much more technically advanced firms, relations between education providers and employers are generally excellent. However, there are too many other factors to establish such a simple link, and the variation within communities and among occupations within the same community adds to the confusion. Establishing a causal relationship between a community's technological sophistication and the nature of relations between education and employment will require substantially more information than we currently have.

There are, then, some clear differences among the four communities we examined. However, the commonalities in the sub-baccalaureate labor market across different communities are even more striking both among providers of education and training and among employers. These commonalities allow us to generalize about sub-baccalaureate labor markets rather than treating them as purely local and idiosyncratic.

[38] Employers and educators speak of shortages without regard to wage rates; that is, they usually do not acknowledge that shortages could be eliminated by increasing wages but instead speak about shortages as being caused either by the preferences of potential workers--for example, avoiding machining because of its image as a dirty occupation--by the lack of education and training programs, or by the lack of experienced workers because of out-migration or sectoral patterns. Therefore, the dominant responses to perceptions of shortage are to recruit over a wider area and to induce education providers to create or expand programs, not to increase wages.

[39] The variation in how educators and employers interact is almost certainly much greater than we were able to capture in four communities. For example, some communities are dominated by a single community college with an enormous local reputation, as described in Grubb and McDonnell (1991). In other areas, there are virtually no providers of postsecondary education and training; Indiana has only one community college, for example. Florida's requirement that vocational programs must have a seventy percent related placement rate may have changed these relationships, as may have the performance measures required by the Perkins Act.