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Orange County Regional Plan
<br />economic prosperity. While some traditionally strong industries like Manufacturing and Finance, however, face a looming skills
<br />gap and talent shortage industry .wide. Additionally, the county's high cost -of- living threatens to outpace many lower- paying
<br />jobs. High- paying emerging occupations and pathways to and through middle -skill occupations indicate potential future growth
<br />which may lead to Improved prospects for the county economy as a whole. Clear pathways are needed to provide employees
<br />with the important skills needed by current and emerging industries.
<br />Regional Goal/Objective; Regional Sector Pathways development through improved access and quality of demand -
<br />driven, industry responsive service delivery to support upward mobility of Californians.
<br />Strategy'Ilrlpi�msntatian; Service delivery organized around Regional Sector Pathways to increase, expand, and
<br />improve programs that create opportunities for all workers and job seekers for employment in fields with high wages and /or
<br />career advancement opportunities, including for those with barriers to employment such as English Language Learners.
<br />State Plan Alignmarit: Enabling upward mobility for all Californians, Including populations with barriers to employment.
<br />Alignment, coordination, and integration of workforceleducation programs and services to economize limited resources to
<br />provide the right services to customers based on particular and unique needs.
<br />IN- DEMAND SKILLS ANALYSIS A recent report by the Orange County Business Council about "Closing Orange
<br />County's Skills Gap" provides an analysis of in- demand skills with a focus on preparing the region to meet employer demand
<br />for middle -skill occupations. A deeper look at the demand- driven skills for the OC Region looks at skill requirements including,
<br />but not limited to: technical /knowledge based skills, soft skills, certifications, education /training, and specific knowledge
<br />prerequisites in the context of both top occupations and sectors and the regional economy as whole. The research on
<br />employer requirements across occupations and sectors has revealed an emphasis on practical, applied skills that act as
<br />currency for job- seekers and businesses. Orange County's middle -skill economy is largely driven by three high -value
<br />industries prominent in the region: healthcare, manufacturing, and information technology. Together these three industries
<br />amount to nearly one -third of all middle -skill occupations and are the highest job growth industry clusters.
<br />The OC Region engaged business and industry in a multitude of focus groups, surveys, and workgroups to elicit feedback on
<br />employment needs and employer desired skillsets. Results of regional research confirmed results of WANTED Analytics, a
<br />research company which provides detailed real -time information on the current labor market, showing that the middle -skill job
<br />opening category took the longest to fill, with an average posting period of 57 days. Top middle- skills in particularly high
<br />demand included, but were not limited to: bilingual capabilities, customer relationship management, technical support
<br />experience, quality assurance skills, JavaScript, structure query language (SQL), quality control experience, English language
<br />competency, and communication skill sets. The core emerging industries of Manufacturing, Information Technology and
<br />Healthcare all rely heavily on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills. Furthermore, specialized certifications
<br />and training will be required to directly address the middle skills gap and prepare jobseekers with the skills needed to meet
<br />employer's needs and an estimated 17,678 middle skill jobs that will be created over the next decade.
<br />While technical skill and educational requirements are often context sensitive, there are common soft skills that businesses
<br />across all sectors have reported as equally important in their hiring process. Data from surveys of OC Region businesses are
<br />similar to a recent Forbes report that cite the most common soft skills that employers are looking for when hiring as: ability to
<br />work in a team, ability to make decisions and solve problems, verbal and written communication skills, taking initiative,
<br />analytical skills, leadership skills, adaptability, ability to prioritize tasks (different from multi- tasking), creative and strategic
<br />thinking, and interpersonal skills.
<br />EIAPLOYPVIENT NEEDS IN IN- DEMAND SECTORS The relatively low number of candidates per job opening inhigher-
<br />paying occupations is of concern, as this Indicates the smaller talent pools available to businesses in these occupational
<br />sectors. These occupational groups include Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations which had 66 candidates per
<br />job opening, followed by Architecture and Engineering with 55 candidates per job opening, and Computer and Mathematical
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