Understanding the Occupational Profiles

The topics and terms used in the 2007 Occupational Outlook Report are defined as follows:

Employers’ Responses:
The terms describing employers’ responses used throughout the report are:

All: 100% of the employers’ responses.
Almost All: 80-99% of the employers’ responses.
Most: 60-79% of the employers’ responses.
Many: 40-59% of the employers’ responses.
Some: 20-39% of the employers’ responses.
Few: Less than 20% of the employers’ responses.

Title and Definition of Occupations:
The 2007 Occupational Outlook Report follows the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. The SOC system, developed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), classifies workers into 820 occupations.

Wages:
The wages for the occupational profiles were obtained from employers throughout San Diego County who participated in the study. Union and non-union wages are combined and included in the wage section in each occupational profile.

New Hires, No Experience: generally refers to the wages of a person hired into the profiled occupation with no experience in the profiled occupation. The wages in the “No Experience Range” are rounded to the nearest twenty-five cents, e.g. $8.17 is rounded to $8.25 and $8.84 is rounded to $8.75.
New Hires, Experienced: generally refers to the wages of a person hired into the profiled occupation with some experience in the profiled occupation or in a closely related occupation. The wages in the “Experience Range” are rounded to the nearest twenty-five cents, e.g. $18.17 is rounded to $18.25 and $18.84 is rounded to $18.75.
Experienced, three years with the firm: generally refers to the wages of a person who has been employed for three years in the profiled occupation with the same employer. The wages in the “After Three Years with the Firm Range” are rounded to the nearest twenty-five cents, e.g. $28.17 is rounded to $28.25 and $28.84 is rounded to $28.75.

The minimum wage, $6,75, is that which was in effect at the time the data was collected (August through November 2006). The increase in the minimum to $7.50 per hour became effective January 1, 2007 and therefore is not included in any of the wages presented.

In general, wages shown are hourly wages. To arrive at an annual wage or salary, multiply the hourly wage by 2080 hours (the number of hours worked during a 40-hour work week for the 52 weeks in the year. Users are advised to note the average number of hours typically worked in a profiled occupation since the hours for some occupations are less than 40 hours per week.)

Average Weekly Hours:
This section reports the full-time, part-time, on-call, temporary, and seasonal employee distribution, along with the average number of hours worked per week.

Shifts:
The shift information was derived from the California Occupational Guides developed by the California Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division, and from the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook.

The four shift categories referred to are:

Regular: Between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM.
Evening: Between 2:00 PM and midnight.
Night: Between 9:00 PM and 8:00 AM.
Other: Includes evening, afternoon, or weekend schedules.

Fringe Benefits:
Benefits presented are for full-time employees. A table shows the percentage of employers that offer a particular benefit, regardless of the level of the employers’ financial contribution toward the cost of that benefit. Additional information on the employers’ financial contribution toward the cost of medical insurance premiums is provided after the table.

Education and Training:
These sections report employers’ hiring requirements over the past year. The educational requirements shown are what employers reported; they may not actually be necessary for job performance. A lack of the required education, however, may be a barrier to job entry. If a license or certificate is needed for performance in a profiled occupation, a reference to the licensing or certifying entity is given.

Education/Training Providers:
The report provides a list of education and training programs in the region that prepare individuals for each occupation. These programs are available through local community colleges, the Regional Occupational Program (ROP), adult education, private training providers, extended studies, and colleges and universities. These are listed in Appendix A, Providers by Occupations Tab for the profiled occupations only.

PLEASE NOTE: The San Diego Workforce Partnership does not endorse the education and training providers listed in this report; they are listed for informational purposes only. Note also that education and training programs may change frequently and it is recommended the schools be contacted to verify the information listed in this publication.

Experience:
This section reports the type of work experience employers generally require for each occupation.

Skills:
The occupational skills employers rate as very important are included for each profiled occupation, and shown in order of importance.

Supply and Demand:
This information is developed from the employers’ responses when they were asked to rank the difficulty in finding qualified, experienced and inexperienced job applicants to fill their job vacancies. The employers’ responses are combined to form a weighted average using a formula that includes the number of new hires and the degree of difficulty in finding qualified, experienced and inexperienced job applicants.

The following terms describe the degree of difficulty in finding applicants:

Very Difficult: Demand is considerably greater than the supply of qualified applicants. Employers often cannot find qualified applicants when an opening exists; therefore, qualified applicants encounter little to no competition in their job search.
Moderately Difficult: Demand is somewhat greater than the supply of qualified applicants. Employers may have some difficulty finding qualified applicants at times. Qualified applicants may find some competition in their job search.
Not Difficult: Supply of qualified applicants is considerably greater than demand. Employers may have little difficulty in finding qualified applicants. Qualified applicants may find a very competitive job market.

Recruitment Methods:
This section presents the most frequently used methods to recruit new employees for the occupation, shown in order of importance.

Turnover:
Turnover is reported as a percentage. It is based on vacancies (resulting from promotions and employees leaving the firm) filled over the last 12 months, divided by the total number of people working in the occupation minus any new positions created. Terms used to describe turnover are:

Very Low: Less than 6%.
Moderately Low: Between 6% and 10%.
Moderate: Between 11% and 20%.
Moderately High: Between 21% and 30%.
High: Over 30%.

Size of 2007 Employment:
This is the projected level of employment in the occupation compared to the total projected employment in the county. Terms used to describe occupational size are:

Small: Fewer than 2,027 employees in the occupation (less than 0.15% of 2007 total county employment).
Medium: Between 2,027 and 4,054 employees in the occupation (0.15% to 0.299% of 2007 total county employment).
Large: Between 4,055 and 8,784 employees in the occupation (0.3% to 0.649% of 2007 total county employment).
Very Large: More than 8,784 employees in the occupation (more than 0.65% of 2007 total county employment).

Gender Representation:
This section reports the percentage of female and male workers in each occupation, based on local employers’ responses. One use of this information is to place job seekers in non-traditional occupations, which according to the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) definition is 25% or less of a gender employed in an occupation.

Older Worker:
This new section provides information on the effect of older worker retirements and employers’ strategies in response to those retirements. Obstacles, if any, that older workers may encounter in getting into a profiled occupation are presented, when available.

Where the Jobs Are:
This section uses information from the California Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division, to show which industries provide the largest sources of employment for each occupation in San Diego County. Industries included in this section employ at least 0.05% of those working in an occupation.

Employers’ Employment Outlook:
This section identifies the number of employers’ responses used in developing the occupational profiles, and provides the employers’ employment outlook for the next twelve months.

Growth Projections:
This section shows annual occupational projections for San Diego County provided by the California Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division. and are derived from those ten-year occupational projections (2004 – 2014) for San Diego County.

Annual Replacements are an estimate of the number of job openings expected because workers have permanently left an occupation. It estimates the net movement of: 1) experienced workers who leave an occupation and start working in another occupation, stop working altogether, or leave the geographic area minus 2) experienced workers who move into such an opening. It does not represent the total number of jobs
to be filled as a result of the need to replace workers.

New Job Growth Rate:
This section provides the ten-year new job growth rate for each occupation and compares it to the average new job growth rate for all occupations in the county (14.7% in the 2004-2014 projections). The following terms apply to the new job growth rate for occupations in San Diego County:

Much Faster than Average: More than 22.05%.
Faster than Average: 16.18% to 22.05%.
Average: 13.24% to 16.17%.
Slower than Average: 1.48% to 13.23%.
Much Slower: –1.47% to 1.47%.
Declining: Less than –1.47%.

Math and Science Levels:
This is a new section that provides information on the level of math and/or science local employers typically require of applicants for each profiled occupation.

Math:
The following terms are used to describe the levels of math used in the report and are based on State of California, Board of Education standards:

No math required.
Elementary math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; grade levels 1 through 4.
Basic math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, interest computation, constants, fraction-decimal conversion, units & measurement conversion; grade levels 1 through 6.
Advanced math: in addition to basic math, algebra, geometry, trigonometry; grade levels 7 through 12, typically Jr. High School through Sr. High School.
College level math: in addition to advanced math, calculus, trigonometry, probability and statistics, algorithms; grades freshman through graduate studies.

Science:
The following terms are used to describe the levels of science used in the report and are based on the State of California, Board of Education standards:

No science required.
Elementary Science: physical sciences, life sciences, earth sciences, investigation and experimentation; grades kindergarten through 5.
Basic Science: deeper focus on physical sciences, life sciences, earth sciences, investigation and experimentation; grades 6 through 8
Advanced Science: physics, chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry, biology and life sciences, and earth science; grades 9 through 12.
College Level Science: astronomy, biology, chemical physics, chemistry, computer science, environmental science, geology, microbiology, physical science, physics, psychology, and statistics; grades freshman through graduate studies.

Career Ladder/Promotional Opportunities:
This section provides career ladder information on occupations that lead to the profiled occupations, as well as the occupations that a person can be promoted to when employed in the profiled occupation.

Ex-Offender Employment:
This section provides information on whether employers would consider hiring an ex-offender for an occupation, along with the offenses that would additionally disqualify an individual for employment in that occupation.

Alternative Job Titles:
This section lists other possible titles employers use for employees whose duties and activities match those described in the occupational definition.

Related Codes:
This section lists military codes related to the profiled occupation.

Data Collection Date:
This section provides the time period when the data were gathered from employers.