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Local Area IV, which covers Sedgwick County and surrounding counties, has a stronger demand for workers than in other areas of the state. Employers in this area reported an estimated 12,370 job vacancies during the second quarter of 2008. The average number of individuals unemployed in this area during this time was 13,018. This means on average 1.05 individuals are unemployed for every job vacancy, the lowest among all Local Areas and indicating a high demand for workers.
Sixty-eight percent of these openings were full-time, permanent positions. Furthermore, the results indicate that Local Area IV had the highest job vacancy rate of all the areas at 4.1 percent or approximately four vacancies for every 100 filled positions.
- Job Vacancies by Industry
The Leisure and Hospitality industry super sector reported the largest number of job vacancies in Local Area IV with 2,661 openings.
Openings in the Public Administration industry offered the highest minimum wage of $13.04 an hour.
- Job Vacancies by Occupation
Demand for workers was spread across most of the major occupational groups. The Food Preparation and Serving-Related occupational group reported the largest number of job openings with 2,577 openings, followed by the Transportation and Material Moving occupational group with 1,656 openings.
The Food Preparation and Serving-Related occupational group also had the highest job vacancy rate of 10.3 percent. The Healthcare Support and Transportation and Material Moving groups had 9.3 and 9.1 percent respectively.
In terms of occupations, Waiters and Waitresses reported the largest number of job vacancies in Local Area IV with 988 openings. Nursing Aides, Orderlies and Attendants had 570 vacancies; next were Food Servers, Non restaurant with 536 openings; Truck Drivers, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer with 534 openings and Hand Laborers and Freight, Stock and Material Movers with 516 openings. These five occupations represent 25 percent of the total vacancies in the area.
- Job Vacancies by Employer Size
As in most of the Local Areas, employers with five to 49 employees reported the largest number of job vacancies with 5,110 openings or 41.3 percent of all job openings in the area.
- Education
More than 67 percent of the job vacancies in this area required no education or only a high school diploma or GED. Thirteen percent required a bachelor’s or advanced degree.
The occupation Registered Nurses had more job vacancies than any other occupation in every local area, and was consistently one of the top ten occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree in every area. This area also had two teaching-related occupations on the list.
- Starting Wage Offer
The average minimum wage offer for job vacancies in Local Area IV was $10.10 per hour, the lowest wage of all Local Areas. The average maximum wage offer was $11.53 per hour.
Only 23 percent of the job vacancies reported in Local Area IV paid $12.00 per hour or more, the lowest percentage of all Local Areas. Moreover, 39 percent of the vacancies offered wages of $6.00 to $11.99 per hour.
Seventeen percent of the job vacancies in Local Area IV offered less than $6.00 per hour, which is a higher percentage for this pay range than any of the other Local Areas.
In this Local Area, openings in the Computer and Mathematical and Legal occupations paid the highest wages while Food Preparation and Serving-Related and Sales and Related occupations paid the lowest.
Overall, the Local Area IV median minimum wage offer was $9.00 per hour, and the median maximum wage offer was $9.50 per hour. The median wage offer represents the value in the middle when all wage offers are arranged from lowest to highest.
- Duration of Job Vacancies
As in the other Local Areas, the survey showed a majority of all vacancies in Local Area IV were for jobs that were “always open.”
Local Area IV reported 40 percent of its vacancies as always open, more than any of the other Local Areas. This could be due to a higher demand for workers in occupations with a high turnover rate, which are typically reported as always open.
Several healthcare related occupations were consistently on the list of occupations “always open.” In Local Area IV, four of the top ten occupations on this list were healthcare-related. Other occupations that appear on the list in this Local Area were Waiters and Waitresses and Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers.
- Local Area IV Tables
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