Miami-Fort Lauderdale- West Palm Beach

Matching Workers to Jobs

To train more people to work on its electric vehicles, Tesla is launching a 12-week automotive technician program at Miami Dade College. The program will begin this fall, training classes of up to 16 students at a time.

Tesla will provide six electric cars, and students, who pay $2,400 in tuition, will earn a dollar above minimum wage ($9.46 an hour) while they train to become Tesla technicians.

Students can apply for a full-time job at Tesla upon passing the course, says John Wensveen, vice provost for academic schools at MDC. A typical Tesla technician earns about $57,000 a year, according to Glassdoor.com.

“There are three states that are high growth for Tesla: California, Texas and Florida, and in particular South Florida,” Wensveen says. “Our goal is to supply the current demand for skilled technicians.”

The Tesla program is part of an initiative called MDC ACTS (Accelerated Credentials Training and Skills) designed to offer job seekers accelerated training in high-demand, well-paying industries. “These are living-wage jobs that will allow you to rent and eventually purchase a home in our community,” Wensveen says.

MDC ACTS also is working with employers to develop training programs in cyber-security and Amazon Web Services, among other areas. In addition to an accelerated timeline, a key feature of the programs is students’ ability to earn while they learn, Wensveen says. He notes that students in the Tesla technician program can earn back their tuition fees before completing the course.

• Real estate development remains robust, and South Florida has added more than 40,000 construction jobs since 2014. Local contractors say they’re struggling to find enough skilled workers to keep up with the construction boom, despite raising wages and increasing benefits. As the economy approaches full employment, South Florida also faces a shortage of affordable workforce housing.

Jobs and Wages

• Miami has grown from 2.4 million jobs in 2014 to 2.7 million jobs in 2018, a 13% increase. Construction has been — and remains — the strongest sector, with the number of jobs expected to grow by 5% a year for the next four years.
• Miami’s average annual wage increased from $52,300 in 2014 to $57,800 in 2018. The average worker is projected to make $66,300 a year by 2022, according to UCF’s Institute for Economic Forecasting.

Naples-Immokalee- Marco Island

• In the past five years, the number of jobs in Naples has increased by 14,200, or 11%. Naples’ financial sector has grown from 7,500 jobs in 2014 to 8,400 jobs in 2018, a 12% increase. The sector is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 4% during the next four years, to 9,700 jobs in 2022.

Palm Bay-Melbourne- Titusville
Jobs and Wages

• In the past five years, the number of jobs in Melbourne has increased by 21,200, or 11%. The average wage in the area, which includes a large concentration of engineering talent, is $53,300. Melbourne’s professional and business services sector has grown from 28,400 jobs in 2014 to 30,800 jobs in 2018, an 8% increase. The sector is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5% during the next four years, to 36,900 jobs in 2022.

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.

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater

• Since 2014, life sciences companies Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Amgen have opened offices in Tampa, creating hundreds of jobs. All told, Tampa’s life sciences and health care sector has more than 3,000 companies employing about 92,000 people, according to economic development officials. Tampa General Hospital now wants to create a medical district with USF in and around downtown Tampa to help attract more doctors and researchers to the area.

Jobs and Wages

• Tampa’s economy has grown from 1.2 million jobs in 2014 to 1.4 million jobs in 2018, a 17% increase. Tampa’s strongest sector in the past five years has been professional and business services, followed closely by tourism. UCF’s Institute for Economic Forecasting says construction will be the fastest-growing job sector in Tampa during the next four years, with an average annual increase of 4%. Tampa’s average annual wage increased from $49,300 in 2014 to $54,000 in 2018.
• The average worker is projected to make $62,500 a year by 2022, according to UCF’s Institute for Economic Forecasting.

Lakeland-Winter Haven

Jobs and Wages

• In the past five years, the number of jobs in the Lakeland-Winter Haven area has increased by 25,200, or 13%. Average wages: $47,000. Lakeland’s professional and business services sector has grown from 27,100 jobs in 2014 to 31,500 jobs in 2018, a 16% increase. The sector is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5% during the next four years, to 38,100 jobs in 2022.

Jacksonville/Northeast

• Since 2010, St. Johns County has experienced a population increase of 33.8%, the 12th-fastest growth rate nationwide. Census data show most of the growth is due to people migrating from other parts of the U.S. Master-planned communities with names like eTown (photo) are being built to meet demand from new residents, and Jacksonville’s major hospital systems are expanding.

Jobs and Wages

• Jacksonville’s economy has grown from 624,000 jobs in 2014 to 709,000 jobs in 2018, a 14% increase. As elsewhere in Florida, the construction sector has led job growth, with notable increases in employment in the services, education and health care sectors.
• Jacksonville’s average annual wage increased from $50,300 in 2014 to $54,600 in 2018. The average worker is projected to make $63,000 a year by 2022.

Worker Shortages

The region’s economic developers have targeted five industries for growth: Advanced manufacturing, financial services, health care, transportation and logistics and information technology. Related occupations where workers are in short supply:

• Accountants and tax examiners
• Financial managers, analysts and advisers
• Software developers
• Doctors
• Pharmacists
• Surgeons
• Psychiatrists
• Banking analysts
• Ship/marine engineers
• Industrial engineers

Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach

• In the past five years, the number of jobs in Daytona has increased by 21,500, or 12%. Daytona’s construction sector has grown from 10,100 jobs in 2014 to 14,300 jobs in 2018, a 42% increase. Average annual wages have risen from $38,600 to $42,500.

Gainesville

• In the past five years, the number of jobs in Gainesville has increased by 13,300, or 10%. Average annual wages have reached $48,000. One standout: Gainesville’s professional and business services sector has grown from 12,300 jobs in 2014 to 15,200 jobs in 2018, a 24% increase. The sector is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 4% during the next four years, from an estimated 15,800 jobs in 2019 to 17,500 jobs in 2022.

Ocala

• In the past five years, the number of jobs in Ocala has increased by 8,000, or 8%. Average wage: $42,400. Ocala’s construction sector has grown from 6,200 jobs in 2014 to 7,200 jobs in 2018, a 16% increase. The sector is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5% during the next four years.

Pensacola

• In the past five years, the number of jobs in Pensacola has increased by 17,700, or 11%, with the average wage $47,500. Pensacola’s construction sector has grown from 9,500 jobs in 2014 to 12,500 jobs in 2018, a 32% increase. The sector is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 4% during the next four years, to 14,500 jobs in 2022.

Tallahassee

• In the past five years, the number of jobs in Tallahassee has increased by 11,500, or 7%. State government still dominates the area’s economy, with average wages at $46,300. Tallahassee’s professional and business services sector has grown from 19,000 jobs in 2014 to 21,700 jobs in 2018, a 14% increase. The sector is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 4% during the next four years, to 25,500 jobs in 2022.

 

Read more in Florida Trend's August issue.

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