The Elkhorn Valley Labor Basin includes Antelope, Boone, Madison, Pierce, Platte, Stanton, and Wayne Counties in Nebraska. The purpose of this report is to assess the “Available Labor Pool” in this labor basin. The “Available Labor Pool” represents those who indicate that they are looking for employment or would consider changing their jobs for the right employment opportunity.
The Docking Institute's independent analysis of this labor basin shows
that:
The population of the Elkhorn Valley Labor Basin is estimated to
be 103,170. A fifth (20%) of the population (or 21,080 individuals)
is considered to be part of the Available Labor Pool (ALP).
Among the ALP, an estimated 1,278 (6.1%) non-working and 3,913 (18.6%) working individuals are looking for new employment, while 958 (4.5%) non-working and 14,931 (70.8%) working individuals would consider new and/or different employment for the right opportunities.
Nearly 71% of the ALP has at least some college experience and almost all (97.4%) has at least a high school diploma. The average age for members of the entire ALP is 44 years old, and women make up almost 48% of the ALP. Almost 20% indicate that they speak at least “a little” Spanish.
Majorities of ALP members report needing “no additional training” for a job requiring working in groups or interpersonal skills (80%), math (59%), and writing (53%).
About 88% of the working ALP respondents “strongly agree” or “mildly agree” with a statement suggesting that they have a “generally positive work environment,” and about 98% of the Non-ALP suggest the same.
83% (or 17,544 individuals) of the ALP indicate that they are “willing to work outside of their primary field of employment for a new or different employment opportunity.”
Slightly more than 17% of the members (or 3,668 individuals) of the ALP will commute up to 45 minutes, one way, for an employment opportunity. 65% (or 13,703 individuals) will commute up to 30 minutes.
The most important desired benefits are, in order, good salary or hourly wage, good retirement benefits, good health benefits, on-the-job training (OJT) or paid training, and good vacation benefits – all receiving more than 75% support among respondents.
Among the ALP that are willing to commute the necessary time to the labor basin center , almost 7,000 people (33.2% of the entire ALP) are interested in a new job at $16 an hour, 4,465 (21.2%) are
available at $12 an hour, and 1,053 (5%) are available at $8 an hour.
Among the 18,844 employed members of the ALP, 6,341 (34%) consider themselves underutilized. About three-quarters (73.5%) of this subset of the ALP has some college experience, and a substantial majority (90%) is willing to change jobs to improve it’s underutilized status.
Of the 18,085 members in the subset of the ALP that do not own their own businesses, 5,317 (29%) have considered starting their own businesses.
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