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Regional snapshots of Florida's job market
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
- In 2018, for the fourth year in a row, the Bureau of Labor Statistics named Orlando the fastest-growing job market among large U.S. metros. A lot of the growth has been outside the tourism industry. Orlando ranks third nationally for growth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs during the past five years, according to Economic Modeling Specialists International. The Orlando Economic Partnership predicts the area’s job market will grow 19% over the next decade, well above the estimated national increase of 9%.
Jobs and Wages
- Orlando has added 200,000 jobs in four years, from 1.1 million in 2014 to 1.3 million in 2018, an 18% increase. The strongest sectors have been construction, up 46%; transportation, up 29%; and professional and business services, up 26%. Orlando’s leisure and hospitality sector grew from 231,000 jobs in 2014 to 269,500 jobs in 2018, up 17%. The Orlando Economic Partnership says home-health care services will be the area’s fastest-growing sector in the next decade, with a 64% increase in jobs by 2030.
- Orlando’s average annual wage increased from $46,200 in 2014 to $51,200 in 2018. The average worker is projected to make $58,400 a year by 2022.
High-Tech Employers
The area’s STEM workforce includes a number of high-tech manufacturing jobs at Lockheed Martin, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and Siemens Energy. Lockheed recently opened a $50-million, 255,000-sq.-ft. building in Orlando for research and development. The contractor, which employs nearly 5,000 in Orlando, has said the additional space will allow it to create about 500 jobs with an average annual salary of $87,000.
Boom
Between 2016 and 2017, Orlando’s population grew 2.3%, the most of the 30 largest U.S. metros. One in nine Orlando residents has moved to the area since 2010, half of them from another country, according to the Orlando Economic Partnership. “Central Florida is adding about 1,500 new residents a week, or 78,000 people a year,” says CareerSource’s Pam Nabors. “We’re a mecca for people moving not only from the Northeast and Midwest, but also from other parts of the world, particularly Central and South America and Eastern Europe.” Experts estimate enrollment in the area’s school districts will increase by 135,4000 students during the next decade, creating demand for more than 30,000 teachers.
