Pipestone County Workforce Information

 Pipestone County is in Region 8 of the Minnesota WorkForce Center System. Minnesota WorkForce Centers provide Employer Services and Labor Market Information for the Southwest WorkForce Service Area. You can find the current unemployment rate for Pipestone County, browse resumes for openings and find out about unemployment taxes at the Minnesota Workforce Center Web Site http://www.mnwfc.org . You can also get information by calling 1-888-GET JOBS or visiting a regional workforce center.

Workforce Center - Marshall        Workforce Center - Worthington
607 W. Main Street                                       511 10th Street
Lyon County Courthouse                               Worthington, MN 56187-2342
Marshall, MN 56258                                     Phone: 507.376.3116
Phone: 507.537.6236                                    Fax: 507.376.3630
Fax: 507.537.6362                                        TTY: 507.376.3116
TTY: 507.537.6236                                       Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday

The Pipestone County EDA has partnered with the Southwest Regional Development Commission in a Southwest Minnesota Labor Force Assessment. We would also like to thank the Legislature of the State of Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development, the Southwest Minnesota Foundation, the Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council, the Minnesota Department of Economic Security, Pipestone County and the City of Pipestone for financially sponsoring this extensive project. The following information is from a draft of the final report prepared August 15, 2001. We will update this page when the final report is complete.

Southwest Minnesota Labor Force Assessment

1)       Employee Job Details

a)     Hours Worked Per Week (May be more than 1 job) The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the 1999 Average Hours Worked at 39.5 for Wage or Salaried Workers and 43.3 for Self-Employed Agricultural Workers.        

b)       Employment Tenure at Primary Job

     *   The median employment tenure at a primary job in Pipestone County is 6 years, compared to 7 years in Region 8. The U.S. median is between 3.6 years.

     *   The average employment tenure is 10.5 years in Pipestone County, compared to 12 years in Region 8. The U.S. average is 4.8 years.

      *   In Pipestone County, 37% of respondents reported working at their primary job for three years or less, compared to 34% in Region 8. U.S. is 40%.

     *    In Pipestone County, 24% of respondents reported working at their primary job for 16 years or more, compared with 29% in Region 8. U.S. is 15.4%.

c)       Number of Employers

d)       Workers’ Annual Salary

In Pipestone County, the largest portion of workers reported receiving an annual pre-tax salary of $20,000 to $40,000 at their primary job. All hourly workers’ salaries were calculated assuming a 40-hour workweek.

e)       Job Benefits Offered to Full and Part-Time Workers

i)         Medical Benefits

ii)       Life Insurance

iii)      Contributions to Retirement Plans

iv)      Paid Vacations

f)         Part-Time Workers Seeking More Hours

i)     In Pipestone County, 62% of part-time workers would be willing to work more hours, compared to 59% in Region 8.

ii)   Of those part-time employees willing to work more hours, 47% reported they would be willing to work 10 more hours, compared to 46% in Region 8. 

g)       Main Reasons People Work Part-Time

There are a number of reasons why people work part-time. Respondents cited the following situations as their main reason for working part-time.

h)       Self-Reported Reasons for Not Working

Of the respondents currently looking for work residing in Pipestone County, the majority (54%) are seeking full-time employment, compared to 61% in Region 8.

i)         Employee Preferences

Survey respondents rated the importance of different employment factors when considering a job.

2)       Workforce Demographics

a)       Education Level of Respondents 25 or Older

b)       Education Related to Job

i)         55% of working respondents in Pipestone County reported that their educational training is related to their job, compared to 53% in Region 8.

ii)       10% reported that their educational training is higher than required for their job, compared to 11% in Region 8.

iii)      35% reported that their educational training is in a different field than their current job, compared to 34% in Region 8.

c)       Willingness to Further Occupational Training

i)         In Pipestone County, 60% of respondents reported they would seek additional occupational training if it meant obtaining a better job even in a different field, compared to 58% in Region 8.

d)       Households With Children Under 13

i)         In Pipestone County, 67% of households reported having no children under 13, compared to 73% in Region 8.

ii)       In Pipestone County, 27% reported having one or two children under 13, compared to 21% in Region 8.

iii)      In Pipestone County, 6% of households reported having three or more children under the age of 13, with the same percent in Region8.

e)       Commuting Patterns

The commuting patterns for Pipestone County and Southwest Minnesota were tabulated to depict one-way travel to work measured in time and distance.

i)         Commuting Data: Time

ii)       Commuting Data: Distance

f)         Commuter Preferences

Residents of Pipestone County and Southwest Minnesota provided salary requirements needed to change commute time.

i)         Employed

How much more* (in dollars per hour) would it take to entice a worker to commute a longer distance? How much less** would a worker accept to take a job with a shorter commute?

* The values to the right of the “X” boxes indicate the worker would require ____ increase in pay to commute more minutes to work.

 ** The values to the left of the “X” boxes indicate workers’ willingness to accept a ____ decrease in pay to commute fewer minutes to work.

 ii)       Not Working

Help Wanted: 2000 Southwest WSA Job Vacancy Survey

 Job vacancies – that is , positions open-for-hire during the time of the survey – were reported by employers who participated in the State of Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey. The exact count of job opening cannot be known with certainty. Rather, this report presents estimates of the demand for workers on a statewide and regional level during the second quarter 2005.

 This study was commissioned by the Southwest Minnesota Workforce Council and the Minnesota Department of Economic Security as part of a statewide Job Vacancy Survey. 

1)       Major Findings

a)       There were an estimated 58,839 job vacancies in the state of Minnesota during the second quarter of 2005.

b)       An estimated 1,770 of these openings are found in the Southwest WSA.

c)       There is a larger number of full-time vacancies than part-time.

d)       More than one-third of these vacancies require some type of education, training or experience.

e)       Thirty seven percent (37%) of all job vacancies require a high-school diploma or higher. Forty two percent (42%) require post-secondary education or training.

f)         The median (50^th percentile) wage for all vacancies is $10.00 per hour. Almost one tenth of total vacancies offer wages of at least $12.00 per hour.

g)       Many vacancies offer paid vacation (67%), health benefits (66%), retirement plans (64%), and sick leave (51%).

h)       There are six occupations with 100 or more vacancies. The top five are:

i)         Assemblers and fabricators                    (220)

ii)       Pressers, textile, garment and related materials      (200)

iii)      Waiters and waitresses                   (170)

iv)      Cashiers                                  (150)

v)        Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants        (150)

2)       Job Opening Profile: Southwest MSA

a)       In 1999, the Southwest MSA was home to 5,785 establishments employing 70,470 workers.

b)       The three largest industries are trade, manufacturing and government, employing 66% of workers in the region.

c)       The healthcare support and the healthcare practitioners and technical occupational groups show evidence of the most severe shortage of workers with the highest job vacancy rate and a high turnover adjusted demand.

d)       A number of occupational groups have a high proportion of full-time vacancies. These include protective service (100%), business and financial operations (100%), and architecture and engineering (100%).

e)       Six occupational groups have a high concentration of job vacancies for high school graduates without post-secondary training. They include: Office and Administrative Support; Building, Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance; Protective Service; Education, Training and Library; Management; Installation, Maintenance and Repair.

f)         Six occupational groups have a high concentration of job vacancies for graduates of vocational training or certificate programs or two-year degree: Healthcare Support; Healthcare Practitioners and Technical; and Business and Financial Operations.

g)       Two occupational groups have a high vacancy level for individuals with Bachelor’s degree: Community and Social Services; and Architecture and Engineering.

h)       Job Vacancies that require no experience are concentrated in Personal Care; Protective Services; and Sales and Related. Vacancies requiring no experience account for 72% of total openings.

i)         In Southwest WSA, firms with less than 25 employees account for 34% of total vacancies.

j)         The job vacancy rate for medium (25 to 249 employees) size firms (5%) indicates that these firms may be experiencing more severe shortage conditions than other size firms.

k)       Positions classified as open for greater than 60 days account for 53% of total vacancies. Occupational groups with a large share of job vacancies open for more than 60 days include: food preparation and serving related; healthcare practitioners and technical; office and administrative support; building, grounds cleaning and maintenance; protective service; and architecture and engineering.

A complete discussion of the State of Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey methodology, and the balance of this report, is on the Internet at http://www.MnWorkForceCenter.org/lmi/vacancy/