IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
San Bernardino County has enough population to improve its economy, but it’s not doing enough to ensure that its working-age adults are finding jobs within the county.
That’s the conclusion of the Workforce Roadmap, a report commissioned by the San Bernardino County Workforce Development Board and put together by the UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecasting and Development.
The reports notes that county has an above-average percentage of young people who are employed, but that the labor force participation among its working-age adults – 25-64 years old – lags behind the regional average.
Should that problem be fixed, tremendous opportunities for businesses in high-growth industries would open up in San Bernardino County, according to the report.
“Considering that practically every industry continues to add jobs, the ability to tap into a large local labor pool is an important competitive advantage for us,” said Tony Myrell, chairman of the workforce development board, in a statement. “This kind of data gives us an opportunity to further focus our efforts when it comes to connecting the needs of businesses with career training and development.”
Transportation, warehousing, manufacturing and healthcare are the sectors where the most job opportunities exist, but many of those jobs are being filled by non-residents: an estimated 198,000 workers commute from neighboring counties to work in San Bernardino County every day, the report stated.
