Managing Editor
The top 10 jobs in Jacksonville, by sheer numbers, pay from $8.40 to almost $30 an hour on average.
The bottom line is that while many of the jobs are the lowest paid, they also are the most needed.
Many are considered entry-level or training jobs. Some of the jobs aren’t automated, so it takes more employees to do the job. Other jobs might involve technology, but don’t require a high level of expertise to operate it.
“Because these jobs are low in productivity, it takes more people to perform them. That’s why they’ll always be the highest number of jobs and growing the most,” said Candace Moody, communications vice president for the WorkSource job service.
“For every $60,000 general manager of a retail store,” said Moody, there are dozens of $8-an-hour associates.
As the area wrestles with unemployment topping 10 percent and governments offer incentives to bring in higher-paying jobs, it’s worth reviewing where the most jobs are focused.
According to the state, based on 2009 employment numbers and current wage estimates, the top 10 occupations in the area employed from 9,000 to almost 19,000 people each.
Total area employment was 581,450 for 2009 in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation Labor Market Statistics Center.
For total employment, the average wage was $19.19 an hour, which works out to $767.60 a week and $39,915.20 a year.
However, the top 10 occupations in the area averaged almost $14 an hour, or $560 a week and $29,120 a year.
Six of the largest area occupations carry wages that work out to less than $26,000 a year. For perspective, families of two or more with that income can qualify for free or reduced-price meals in Duval County Schools.
“In workforce development, we still value these lower-paid, entry-level jobs. They are an important training ground for teenagers, part-timers by choice and immigrants who are transitioning into the workforce and need to build skills,” said Moody.
“The problem comes when adults don’t gain the education or skills to move into higher-paying and more skilled jobs,” she said.
“It is a real challenge to be economically self-sufficient in these entry-level jobs,” she said.
Moody said entry-level jobs tend to fall into two categories, those that provide a personal or individual service that can’t be automated that also might not be highly valued or priced, or those that operate technology that does complex work with little required expertise by the operator, such as cashiering or inventory control.
Not all of the top ranked occupations are low-skilled or low-paid, especially registered nurses. That occupation paid the most, with the average wage almost $62,000, the state numbers showed.
“Nursing has experienced a shortage of skilled workers for over a decade. It’s not a surprise that it’s one of the most reliable careers – high wage, high skills, high demand,” said Moody.
She said WorkSource invests much of its training funding in nursing and other allied health careers.
“Health care has been one of the bright spots for employment during this recession. It has been the only industry that remained in positive numbers when other industries were shedding jobs,” said Moody.
Largest occupations in Northeast Florida
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