slides: 10 Oregon Industries with the Most Job Vacancies

Friday, January 16, 2015

Joanna Evoniuk, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Oregon had close to 45,700 job vacancies during Fall 2014, according to recently released data from the Oregon Employment Department. The analysis showed an increase of open jobs compared to last fall, and a diverse range of options for employment.

The Employment Department surveyed private employers around the state, to see what industries had the most openings and the type of positions available. There were 45,685 open jobs reported, up from 13,400 in Fall 2013.

Industries with the most vacancies were in a variety of sectors.

“The difference among the top industries—that’s the most interesting thing in the data,” said Gail Krumenaure, a senior analyst with the Oregon Employment Department. “There’s really something for everyone.”

Slideshow Below: 10 Oregon Industries with the Most Job Vacancies

Topping the list of most vacancies was the retail industry. Kurmenaure said she suspects this is due to retailers looking for extra holiday hires, but will not know for sure until the next data set is analyzed.

Jobs in Health care and social assistance had some of the most openings, along with manufacturing. Krumenaure said health care is regularly at the top for job vacancies, partly because of the nature of the industry.

“In the recession when all these industries tanked, health care kept growing. If somebody breaks their leg, they still have to go the hospital,” Krumenaure said. “While [health care] is not the fastest growing industry, it’s been on a steady march for 20 years.”

However, Krumenaure said manufacturing industries have seen the job growth strengthen just over last year after struggling in the past.

Manufacturing Jobs

Rodney McNeff is the operations manager for Anderson Quality Spring, a spring manufacturing company based in Canby, Oregon. McNeff said the growth of the manufacturing industry depends on the type of company and product, although the country as a whole has become more competitive overseas.

However many manufacturing companies could just be struggling finding the right applicant for the job, according to McNeff.

“We have to look pretty hard to find good, qualified candidates. We are looking for people who are good at what they do, and it’s not easy,” McNeff said.

McNeff said hands-on manufacturing does not interest a lot of the younger generation, who are tend to be drawn towards more high-tech industries.

Throughout 2014, Oregon had three unemployed residents for every open job, just slightly above the rest of the nation’s two unemployed per vacancy. Oregon generally has higher unemployment than the rest of the U.S., Krumenaure said. Last fall, Oregon had 1 job vacancy for every 4 unemployed.

The Portland Tri-county area had the most available jobs, 20,776. The least amount of vacancies was in Central and Eastern Oregon, with 3,336 and 1,799 respectively.

Related Slideshow: 10 Oregon Industries With the Most Job Vacancies

Oregon had close to 45,700 job vacancies during Fall 2014, according to analysis by the Oregon Department of Employment. Here are the industries that had the most open positions.