Southern States Must Invest in Postsecondary Education and Training, According to Report

While job growth in the South is relatively strong (20 percent growth) compared to the nation (17 percent), many southern states are trapped in an economic cycle known as a low-wage/low-skill equilibrium, according to A Decade Behind: Breaking Out of the Low-Skill Trap in the Southern Economy — a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and Workforce. In this equilibrium, high-skill, high-wage industries lack the incentive to locate in the region and workers lack the incentives to pursue postsecondary education training due to limited demand for skilled workers.

This dangerous cycle may cause many southern states to lag a decade behind national averages in the proportion of jobs in high-growth growth industries. According to the report, most southern states will not achieve 2010 national levels until almost 2020. This phenomenon is driven largely by the industrial profiles of southern states that are dominated by low-wage, low-skill industries and occupations. The report also found that inadequate demand will ensure that brain drain remains a significant problem for southern states because high-skilled talent will continue to migrate to neighboring states and other regions in the United States.

To address this problem, southern states will need to develop an aggressive multidimensional strategy that mixes educational improvements with economic development. States can escape the quandary by producing more postsecondary talent and by modernizing existing industries and attracting new ones. However, the two efforts must be coordinated to prevent brain drain due to limited demand or a shift to the hiring of out-of-state talent (the loss of opportunity for state residents). The report's authors contend that states with significant natural resources should leverage those assets to support their economic and workforce development efforts.

The report also includes a detailed state-by-state breakdown of job projections by industry and occupation for the region. The seventeen state-by-state analysis includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia Washington D.C. and West Virginia. Read the report...