We hear this often: There are no jobs here for young people, so they have to leave their home and head to the mainland.
Indeed, one might think there are few jobs to be had out there. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 2.1 percent for the third consecutive month. Statewide, 672,700 were employed and 14,600 unemployed in August for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 687,300. And here on Kauai, the jobless rate was 2.3 percent in August, the same as July, but up from 2.0 percent in August 2017.
So, no jobs, right?
Wrong.
Some employers will tell you a different story. They’ll explain that with such a low unemployment rate, with fewer people looking for work, it’s difficult to find qualified people who want to work for them and will keep the job once hired. Most people who operate businesses will tell you the hardest part is hiring and keeping good staff. Of course, what they offer in terms of pay and benefits impacts whether they can keep staff around.
We want to see young people staying on Kauai to work rather than being forced to leave. And that is possible — depending on the job you are seeking.
Which brings us to this question: What are the top jobs in Hawaii?
The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism recently released a report on Top 20 Occupations in Hawaii that offers answers.
Retail sales workers topped the list at 42,445 workers in 2016, which accounted for 5.9 percent of Hawaii’s civilian workforce, followed by food and beverage serving workers at 40,775, which accounted for 5.7 percent of Hawaii’s civilian workforce. Construction trade workers ranked third place at 34,137, which accounted for 4.8 percent of Hawaii’s civilian workforce.
And why does this matter?
“This report is an important tool to understand Hawaii’s current job market as we continue to look for ways to diversify job opportunities for our local residents,” said DBEDT Director Luis P. Salaveria.
When looking at the growth rates, nursing, psychiatric and home health aides grew the most, 71.4 percent between 2001 and 2016. This reflects the growth of Hawaii’s elderly population and the increase in demand for home healthcare.
Among the top 20 fastest-growing occupations between 2001 and 2016, seven of them were healthcare-related, such as nursing, psychiatric, home health aides, occupational therapy and physical therapist assistants, other personal care and service workers, health diagnosing and treating practitioners, health technologists and technicians, other healthcare support occupations, other healthcare practitioners and technical occupations.
“Among the top 20 occupations between U.S. and Hawaii, only two occupations were different. In the U.S., computer occupations and health technologists and technicians were among the top 20, while in Hawaii top executives and other food preparation and serving related workers were among the top 20,” noted Chief State Economist Dr. Eugene Tian. “The number of construction trade workers in Hawaii had the second-largest growth between 2001 and 2016, because construction in Hawaii was at a downturn in 2001. Nevertheless, construction trade workers made up the third-largest occupation group for Hawaii and the fourth-largest for the nation.”
In case you were wondering, the highest paying occupation in Hawaii in 2017 was health diagnosing and treating practitioners with median hourly earnings of $46.11; followed by top executives at $45.31; and lawyers, judges and related workers at $42.06.
Among the top 20 occupations, Asians were the largest racial group in all the categories except top executives, where caucasians had the largest proportion.
The point of all this?
There are jobs here. If you are willing to work hard, do your research and learn your craft, you can find work.
And on the other side of this equation, employers need to do their best to offer good wages and benefits. That’s the best way to keep great staff.
Good job opportunities will keep the next generation home.
