“STEM skills are in high demand relative to supply, and the problem is especially acute in certain metropolitan areas, where the average vacancy for STEM workers takes months to fill,” Jonathan Rothwell finds in his new paper “Still Searching: Job Vacancies and STEM Skills.”
In his study, Rothwell looks at metro area data* from the first quarter of 2013, providing rankings of the 100 largest metro areas by population for the following categories: total number of advertisements for job openings; average ad duration in days; average market value of advertised skill requirement; share of ads requiring STEM skills; share of ads requiring stem skills and at least a bachelor’s degree; and share of ads requiring stem skills and a sub-bachelor’s level of education.
Below are top-10 lists of metros based on four of these metrics, all for the first quarter of 2013. Visit the interactive for a complete picture of all metro areas.
Total Number of Ads for Job Openings
| New York | 72,972 |
| Washington, DC | 47,004 |
| Los Angeles | 46,830 |
| Chicago | 39,819 |
| Houston | 34,816 |
| San Francisco | 34,749 |
| Dallas | 33,166 |
| Minneapolis | 32,228 |
| Boston | 30,671 |
| Atlanta | 29,249 |
Average Ad Duration (Number of Days)
| Stockton | 56.1 |
| San Jose | 53.9 |
| Fresno | 53.2 |
| San Francisco | 49.9 |
| Detroit | 47.0 |
| Bakersfield | 46.9 |
| Riverside | 46.5 |
| Grand Rapids | 46.1 |
| Greenville | 44.0 |
| Sacramento | 44.0 |
Average Market Value of Advertised Skill Requirements
| San Jose | $68,128 |
| San Francisco | 63,536 |
| Washington, DC | 63,095 |
| Austin | 62,023 |
| New York | 61,769 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | 61,580 |
| Seattle | 61,275 |
| Charlotte | 61,245 |
| Hartford | 60,778 |
| Raleigh | 60,655 |
Share of Ads Requiring STEM Skills
| San Jose | 60.6% |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | 56.0 |
| Washington, DC | 55.1 |
| Charlotte | 48.3 |
| San Francisco | 48.3 |
| Raleigh | 48.3 |
| San Diego | 47.9 |
| Baltimore | 47.5 |
| Austin | 47.4 |
| Seattle | 47.0 |
* The data are derived from the labor market information company Burning Glass and other sources.
Looking at these figures along with other data, Rothwell comes to the following conclusions in his paper:
- Job openings for STEM positions take longer to fill than openings in other fields.
- Specific high-value skills requested by employers and common to STEM occupations are particularly scarce relative to demand and yet particularly valuable to employers.
- The regional supply of workers in a given occupation affects the length of vacancy advertisements.
Commentary
Four Top 10 Lists about STEM Job Vacancies and Skills in U.S. Metro Areas
July 2, 2014