IT / High Tech

Greater Jackson Alliance Workforce Assessment
Computer and Information Technology Sector

Younger Associates has evaluated the availability of skilled workers for the computer and information technology sector in the Greater Jackson Alliance area. This evaluation is based upon
a comprehensive workforce analysis completed in September 2008 in collaboration with Wadley-Donovan GrowthTech.

To gain a current and accurate measurement of labor availability by skill set, Younger Associates conducted a labor supply survey that yielded data with a +4% margin of error. The assessment found a skilled workforce and a pool of available and underemployed workers with skills directly related to the computer and information technology industry. For this report, labor availability has been updated to reflect March 2009 levels.

The Greater Jackson Alliance Area Labor Market has over 295,000 employed workers and a labor reserve of more than 210,000 potential and underemployed workers. With the state capital plus
a number of corporate headquarters and regional headquarters operations located in the area, Greater Jackson is the center for office and business services operations in the state. Consequently, a high proportion of the available workers are prepared for jobs related to
computer technology, information management, and customer service.

A data center, contact center or other information technology operation locating in the Greater Jackson Alliance Area could draw from a pool of over 55,400 experienced workers within the labor reserve who have directly related skills. These workers have prior work experience ranging from highly skilled computer technology professionals to office administrative support.

The labor reserve offers a depth of workers with customer service and middle management experience. Customer support centers, remote data centers, shared services centers and other types of computer and information technology employers can fully staff their entire operation
from the Greater Jackson Alliance Area labor pool.

Depending upon the exact location and commute zone within the area, an employer requiring
highly skilled technical workers could expect to find 975 to 1,050 fully screened and qualified applicants. These applicants have professional level computer/information technology skills, and high level computer and information systems technical support skills.

An employer requiring customer support, middle management, professional business services
(i.e. accounting and financial) and administrative support workers could expect to find 4,400 to 5,000 screened and qualified candidates.

Each year colleges and universities serving the Greater Jackson Area produce almost 2,500 graduates of programs related to computer information technology and business.

Table 1 below shows the number of people currently employed in the occupations listed by the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as directly related to the computer and information technology, sector. Also shown is the number of workers within each skill set area that are not currently employed but interested in finding employment. This group is comprised of the recently unemployed and groups such as people returning to the workforce after caring for family,
entering the workforce after completing school or training, early retirees seeking to reenter the workforce, and separating military. The underemployed workers are currently working below their skill level, or only part time, and have demonstrated skills in the skill sets shown.

Table 1: Greater Jackson Workforce Area Skill Sets: Computer and Information Technology
Source: Younger Associates Labor Supply Survey 2008, Updated March 2009
Skill Set	Currently Employed	Not Employed, But Interested	Underemployed	Total Availability
Computer Information System Professionals	575	3,460	4,450	7,910
Computer Technical Support	1,150	2,020	1,200	3,220
Information/Media Technology	2,260	1,975	300	2,275
Customer Service	12,600	8,650	650	9,300
Business Professional Services	2,300	575	1,490	2,065
Middle Management	23,900	6,450	5,675	12,125
Office Administrative Support	21,950	13,800	4,765	18,565
Total	64,735	36,930	18,530	55,460

Labor Quality and Cost

Employers were asked to rate their workforce, on a scale of one to five with five being highest
on the following labor quality measures.

Work Ethic	3.0
Productivity	3.1
Willingness to work overtime	3.4
Punctuality	3.0
Overall employer/employee relations	3.4

In the Greater Jackson area annual average wages for the most technically skilled occupations
such as computer systems design are 37% or more below the U.S. average wages. The average wages for non-technically skilled occupations such as customer service are 20% to 28% lower
than the national average.

Workforce Education and Training

Table 2 below shows the total number of graduates and the number of graduates with degrees directly related to business and computer technology from the colleges and universities serving
the Greater Jackson Alliance area.

Table 2: Greater Jackson Alliance Area Computer Technology and Business Graduates
Source: US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
Name	Address	Distance from Jackson, MS	Type	Total Enrollment	Undergraduate Degree/ Certificate	Business/Tech Graduates*
Alcorn State University	Alcorn	67.9 miles	4-yr, Public	3,688	559	78
Antonelli College	Jackson	0.4 miles	2-yr, Private for-profit	240	82	15
Belhaven College	Jackson	1.1 miles	4-yr, Private not-for-profit	2,485	470	382
Copiah-Lincoln Community College	Wesson	42.9 miles	2-yr, Public	2,382	719	114
East Central Community College	Decatur	63.6 miles	2-yr, Public	2,281	485	75
Hinds Community College	Raymond	15.2 miles	2-yr, Public	9,941	1,476	209
Holmes Community College	Goodman	49.3 miles	2-yr, Public	5,107	641	119
Jackson State University ^R	Jackson	0.5 miles	4-yr, Public	8,698	834	264
Jones Junior College	Ellisville	75.0 miles	2-yr, Public	4,683	904	63
Meridian Community College	Meridian	79.2 miles	2-yr, Public	3,543	667	43
Millsaps College	Jackson	2.4 miles	4-yr, Private not-for-profit	1,151	199	86
Mississippi College	Clinton	8.6 miles	4-yr, Private not-for-profit	4,467	542	191
Mississippi Delta Community College	Moorehead	82.0 miles	2-yr, Public	3,006	432	28
Mississippi Valley State University	Itta Bena	83.4 miles	4-yr, Public	3,009	511	73
Southwest Mississippi Community College	Simmit	71.1 miles	2-yr, Public	1,843	407	23
Tougaloo College	Tougaloo	7.0 miles	4-yr, Private not-for-profit	856	131	1
University of Southern Mississippi^R	Hattiesburg	83.4 miles	4-yr, Public	14,592	2,277	537
Virginia College-Jackson	Jackson	5.1 miles	2-yr, Private for-profit	905	286	65
Mississippi State University ^R	Starkville	114.4 miles	4-yr, Public	17,039	2,588	821
University of Mississippi Main Campus ^R	Oxford	148.2 miles	4-yr, Public	15,129	2,376	780
Total				105,045	16,586	2,499
Programs of study include: Computer/Information Systems, Communications Technology, Business
R - Carnegie Classified Research University