The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is an interstate, intercounty and intercity agency that provides continuing, comprehensive and coordinated planning for the orderly growth of the Delaware Valley region. As the region's metropolitan planning organization (MPO), the Commission provides technical assistance and services to its member state and local governments. Delaware Valley Data is our periodic series of free data bulletins and analytical data reports. This analytical data report summarizes the results of a regional employer survey conducted by DVRPC in March and April of 1999 and serves as a technical supplement to DVRPC's publication Starting Work: Entry-Level Jobs in the Delaware Valley (Fall 2001). Delaware Valley Data reports are also available at www.dvrpc.org.

Backgound

This analytical data bulletin summarizes the results of a regional employer survey conducted by DVRPC in March and April of 1999 and serves as a technical supplement to DVRPC's publication Starting Work: Entry-Level Jobs in the Delaware Valley. As a regional agency, DVRPC strives to provide its member counties, the business community and the general public with timely information regarding key economic and policy issues used for transportation investment decisions, regional economic development activities, land use planning and environmental protection. The results of the survey yield valuable information about entry-level labor force requirements, wage rates and future hiring. In addition, this survey explores important business establishment locational choice factors.

Of the region's approximately 175,000 establishments those establishments with more than 99 employees (3,600 or 2% of all establishments) account for over 40% of the region's total employment and thus provide a cost-effective way to sample entry-level employment. Questionnaires were mailed to 1,800 of these establishments and 159 usable surveys were received. While survey responses were concentrated in the Service (46%) and Manufacturing (21%) sectors, all single digit level SICs were represented with the exceptions of Agriculture and Mining (Figure 1). The survey's response rate, however, was high enough to draw statistically significant conclusions in some cases.

Defining Entry-Level Employment

The term "entry-level" is defined in several different ways in our country. Many public sector workforce development professionals define entry-level as the lowest skill, lowest paid positions within an organization. Consequently, this definition narrowly defines entry-level as consisting of only one class of employee. This definition, while useful for welfare to work initiatives and other poverty relief efforts, does not provide a full picture of the true nature of entry-level employment. Although most respondents view entry-level employment in this traditional way, 15% answered our survey by using a multiple hierarchy definition. Using the multiple hierarchy definition, entry-level is defined as the lowest level within a given hierarchy or class of employee. Therefore, an establishment may have many different types of entry-level positions with widely varying skill requirements (i.e. administrative, professional, and clerical positions).

Due to welfare to work initiatives currently underway, we chose to focus our survey on entry-level employment as traditionally defined since this is most appropriate considering the characteristics of the welfare-to-work labor pool. Therefore, the following analysis only pertains to the 159 responses that did not use the hierarchy definition. Readers are cautioned that while the results of this survey provide good information about entry-level employment as traditionally defined, it does not capture all classes of entry-level employment and only reflects the responses of a sample of the largest establishments in the region.

Survey Results : Entry-Level Job Profile

Over 90% of the region's largest establishments require no more than a High School degree for their traditional entry-level positions, with 62% requiring a High School degree and 29%, requiring only a general equivalency diploma or less (Figure 2).

The "Vast Majority" (83%) of all entry-level jobs are full-time and fully 92% have health benefits of some kind. Most (69%) of the region's largest establishments provided family coverage and 34% provided family or individual coverage without employee co-pay (Figure 3).

Fortunately, only 8% of all entry-level jobs did not offer health insurance of any kind as a benefit. Two-thirds of all entry-level employees, however, had to either contribute to or provide their own health coverage, which places a significant financial burden on these lower paid workers. Although over 79% of all entry-level jobs pay at least a living wage for an individual, approximately 71% of the region's entry-level jobs pay below a living wage for a family of four (Figure 4).

Fortunately, 51% of the region's largest establishments indicated that the "Majority" or "Vast Majority" of their entry-level jobs offer career advancement while about a third offer "Almost None" or just "Some" career advancement (Figure 5).

Assessing Entry-Level Workers' Basic Skills

As the composition of jobs created by today's economy yields more service / information based employment, the skills needed are different from traditional manufacturing and non-information / service based employment. The survey asked respondents six questions to assess the need for basic skills training among their entry-level employees.

The region's largest establishments find that slightly more than half of all their entry-level employees need basic skills training in all of the skills about which we inquired, including Math, Computer, Writing, Communication, Organization and Professional Demeanor. These skills do not include entry-level employment training for company specific tasks but rather basic skills that employers expect are learned prior to employment. In general, "soft" basic skills (professional demeanor and communication) are lacking more than basic computational and logic skills like math and computer use (Figure 6).

Contrary to popular belief, basic computer skills are the least deficient skill set. In fact, 28% of all establishments stated that "almost none" of their entry-level staff need basic skills training in computers (see figures on next page). Similarly, 22% indicate that "almost none" of their employees needed basic math training. Sixty percent of all respondents stated that the "majority" of their entry-level employees needed professional demeanor training while only 35% of employers indicated that computers and math basic skills training were needed by the "majority" of their entry-level employees. However, 56% of establishments stated that basic organization skills were lacking in the "majority" of their entry-level staff. These results show how technology has made it easier to use computers to perform many computational tasks, through more powerful and abundant computers and graphical-user-interfaces (GUI). Abundant home PCs, constant software improvements and available training should make computer and math skills easier to attain in the future. The acquisition of "soft skills", however, are not likely to become easier due to computer technology and their demand is likely to increase as more jobs involve customer service, organizing information and teamwork. Therefore, greater attention to the development of these skills seems necessary to stem this possibly increasing labor force skill deficit.

The following charts provide a breakdown of the survey responses by basic skill.

Figure 7
Survey Results by Basic Skill

Current and Future Entry-Level Hiring

The lack of skills along with near record low unemployment have made it "difficult" or "extremely difficult" for 58% of the region's establishments to find qualified entry-level employees (Figure 7). Of those who have had a difficult or extremely difficult time hiring, 76% believe it is due to an unqualified labor supply, 10% identify high labor costs, and only 2% believe it is because of excessive commuting distance. Although the region's current expansion is one of the longest in history, 30% of all establishments still believe they will need to increase their entry-level hiring over the next five years (Figure 8). The majority (53%) of respondents' report that entry-level hiring will remain about the same over the next five years and only 4% believe it will decrease significantly. Continued strong economic growth will not only increase the number of new entry-level positions but will also foster tight labor markets which will increase turnover rates as better job opportunities grow. As expected, entry-level replacement will out pace new position hiring over the next year, as establishments hire workers to fill 2.8 replacement positions for every one new entry-level position.

Establishment Locational Choice Factors

Firm location choice consists of a complex, dynamic set of factors that ultimately affect a company's competitive advantage through its influence on real estate, labor and tax costs, corporate image, suppliers and potentially available market. Since large investments, both public and private, are usually a part of any location choice, information about the factors that contribute to a corporate location choice is valuable. This survey gathers information on ten location factors to assess their relative and absolute importance in the decision making process involved in locating an establishment.

The results indicate that proximity to customers, transportation networks, real estate costs and the quality of both life and labor are more important attributes of a given location than utilities, labor costs, low taxes, and proximity to competition and suppliers (Figure 9). Notice, however, that the intensity of each score is not very high. Proximity to customers was the only score to average above 4, which makes it a primary choice factor. Overall, the scores of all factors, with the exception of proximity to customers and transportation network, were not primary location factors identified by these establishments.

The results of this survey show that there are many important factors in the locational choice decision making process. While firms can identify those factors that are not primary in their decision making process, results indicate that they cannot easily distinguish those that are primary probably due to the complex nature of locational choice decisions and the limitations of this survey instrument. Regardless of the locational choice factors involved or their importance, a strong majority (72%) of establishments would choose to expand in their current location (Figure 10). Among those that indicated they would expand at a different location, 79% stated they would do so within our nine county region. Only 6% of respondents claimed they would expand by locating outside the region.

Conclusions In general, the region's largest establishments offer entry-level employment opportunities that can support an individual but not a family. Low pay and few benefits are commonplace among these jobs that often require few skills and little formal education. Fortunately, 51% of the region's largest establishments indicated that the "Majority" or "Vast Majority" of their entry-level jobs offer career advancement. Nevertheless, it is still difficult for the majority of employers to find qualified labor. Professional demeanor and communication skills are particularly lacking in the region's entry-level labor pool. Not surprisingly, our survey results diverge from national averages, particularly concerning health care coverage and opportunity for advancement, due to our sampling universe (all establishments with more than 99 employees). Larger establishments tend to offer more benefits, higher pay and more opportunity for advancement than their smaller counterparts.

Need for Further Research
The meaning of "entry-level" is evolving along with today's high-tech, knowledge-based economy. Due to the rapid changes in the economy, a growing number of entry-level jobs are found in non-traditional fields. These new professional service, computer and information analyst positions are best identified and described using multiple hierarchy taxonomy. This taxonomy, for example, would classify a junior systems analyst position in a computer-consulting firm as an entry-level job, despite its relatively high skill requirements and remuneration compared to traditional entry-level jobs. While this classification seems inappropriate using a traditional definition of entry-level, it is rapidly becoming more relevant considering that the fastest growing job sectors require significantly higher entry-level skills than traditional industry. Although the survey results presented here do not provide much information about this non-traditionally defined entry-level employment, respondents indicated that the nature of entry-level work is changing in this manner. To gain a better understanding of entry-level employment in today's economy, future studies should use a multiple hierarchy definition for entry-level. This approach will more likely capture the full spectrum of entry-level employment and will prove useful in designing programs to help people find work.

APPENDIX A: Entry-Level Jobs Survey Questions (with response rates; "N" equals the number of valid responses for each question)

Entry-Level Employee Qualifications and Costs

1) Please provide up to three examples of what your establishment considers an entry-level position. Print in the space below.

2) What are the minimum educational requirements for an entry-level job at your establishment? N= 156

3) What percentage of your entry-level workers need the following basic skills training. Note: do not include training for company specific tasks but rather basic skills that you would expect were learned prior to entry-level employment.
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4) In general, are your establishment's entry-level positions full-time or part-time? N=159

5) What is the hourly / yearly pay (salary) for entry-level positions at your establishment? N=157

6) What type of health benefits does your establishment offer to its entry-level employees? N=155

7) What percentage of your entry-level jobs offer career advancement through promotion within your establishment or company? N=158

8) On a scale of 1 to 7, with one representing "extremely easy" and seven "extremely difficult", please indicate your establishment's experiences hiring qualified candidates for entry-level positions. N=159

9) Only if you circled responses 5, 6 or 7 to the last question, please indicate why you find it difficult or extremely difficult to find qualified, entry-level workers. Please check all that apply. N=92

10) How many entry-level positions do you expect to fill during the next year? Please indicate the number filled due to additions (jobs created) and / or replacements in the spaces provided below.

11) On a scale of 1 to 7, with one representing "increase significantly" and seven "decrease significantly", please indicate the choice that best describes your establishment's entry-level hiring over the next five years. N = 155

12) On a scale of 1 to 7, with one representing "not a primary location choice factor" and "seven primary location choice factor", please rate the importance of the following factors to your establishment's current location choice.

13) Where would you prefer to expand your establishment? N=142

Analytical data report #5 is the fifth in a series of bulletins designed to complement our traditional data releases. For more information on Analytical Data Reports, please visit the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's website (www.dvrpc.org) or contact DVRPC at the telephone number below.

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission was established in 1965 by interstate compact between Pennsylvania and New Jersey to plan for the orderly growth and development of the region, and to provide a variety of planning and technical assistance services responding to regional issues. DVRPC maintains a significant database for twenty-eight counties encompassing New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Included in the database are data profiles at the regional, county and municipal level and for other census geography as requested. DVRPC produces a diverse range of services, including demographic and economic data and projections; mapping and aerial photography; computer assisted mapping; geographic information systems; impact studies; and policy and program development.

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