HONOLULU — The future looks bright. For jobs, anyway. Statewide employment is expected to expand by 4 percent, a growth of 26,880 jobs, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. The estimates cover the first quarter of
HONOLULU — The future looks bright.
For jobs, anyway.
Statewide employment is expected to expand by 4 percent, a growth of 26,880 jobs, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
The estimates cover the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2015, as published in the “Employment Forecasts for the Short-Term,” which was released on Monday.
George Costa, director of the county Office of Economic Development, said it is good news that the economy is recovering throughout the state.
“On Kauai, the service industry is leading the charge,” Costa said. “Construction is showing signs of recovery as well and we’re also seeing job growth in a variety of sectors.”
The data was statewide and a county breakdown wasn’t available, said DOL spokesperson Bill Kunstman. However, tourism played an important role in reviving Hawaii’s economy out of the recession, and the data showed construction is picking up the lead with a 16.7 percent growth rate fueled by 4,960 new jobs.
“Construction expansion has been forecasted for awhile, and now we’re finally seeing significant expansion in that sector and construction jobs are good, middle-class jobs,” Kunstman said.
The forecasts said construction and extraction jobs will grow the most rapidly at 11.5 percent, creating some 2,350 jobs annually. The fast growing jobs include heavy construction operators and laborers, the trades and specialty finishers.
James Abeshima, executive vice president of Shioi Construction in Lihue, said he agrees that construction is leading the way. They are outwardly optimistic for at least the next three quarters.
“We had the same optimism two year ago when we thought it would pick up and it stopped,” Abeshima said. “It was just this year that we started seeing some promise.”
Up until last late year, Abeshima said that contractors and suppliers on island had a guarded optimism with a “stop-and-go” process during the government crisis. There was design and pre-planning work requests but everything was held in check until the bidding and procurement process was official.
But now momentum is here with the new big box sores at Coconut Marketplace and Safeway Village as two examples, Abeshima said. Shioi’s projects include the new Kapaa Elementary School Library, along with more repair and maintenance contracts with the high schools and the community college.
“Shioi has always advocated hiring and employing the local work force as well as using local subcontractors and suppliers,” Abeshima said. “We see that as having a positive effect on the island.”
The overall forecasted total job openings during the 2013 to 2015 period is 60,540, according to the data. It includes all major occupational groups with 13,590 new openings and 16,680 more replacement positions.
Six of the other top 20 growing jobs are in the food preparation and serving industry, including bars and coffee shops. It’s expected to contribute the most job openings at 9,480, which includes grounds cleaning and maintenance jobs.
The report is welcomed news to businesses and prospective employees alike. Not to mention the institutions that train the future workforce.
Kauai Community College Chancellor Helen Cox said that the report helps schools anticipate what degree and non-degree programs they need to offer to help students prepare themselves for jobs that will exist.
“It’s really exciting for us because it means that we have the opportunity to train Kauai residents for the right jobs,” Cox said.
KCC currently has two DOL grants and is applying for a third. The grants help with hiring staff to develop training that is based on industry outlook and job opportunities.
“The jobs that we expect to grow within our county,” she added.
Carl Bonham, professor of economics and director of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Economic Research Organization, said the DOL forecast is very similar to similar data released by UHERO last week.
“The DOL already knows the data they are forecasting,” he said. “All in it is very reasonable and fairly broad based.”
While all sectors are growing over 2 percent, the government continues to be the weakest assessment, Bonham said. There is some expectation that state and local governments will begin re-filling needed positions that have been empty since the fiscal crisis freezes in 2009.
Construction is growing overall, and government contracts are a big piece of it, as the UHERO report will show in two weeks, Bonham said. Government contracts were up around 50 percent across the board in 2013, from light rail to military bases, and school improvements to the airport extension on Kauai.
These projects were contracted to begin in 2014, and more should be expected more in 2014 for work down further down the road, he said.
Housing is the other surge for construction. There are major housing projects slated for Oahu, the Big Island, and Maui, and smaller affordable housing projects for Kauai.
“There will be more about that in our construction report in a couple of weeks,” Bonham said.
