Last week I presented data on Maine's occupational structure, showing what we did for work (as opposed to what industry we worked in) and highlighting those occupations where Maine had above- and below-average concentrations in comparison to the U.S. average.
One of the notable findings was Maine's below-average share of workers in what the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls Business and Financial Operations. The BLS reported that (in May 2005) slightly more than 20,000 Mainers worked in occupations within this category and earned an average salary of just over $49,000, well above the overall Maine average of $33,900.
But in Maine, our share of workers within this category was nearly 20 percent below the national average. Given the relatively good salaries paid in these occupations and their obvious importance in stimulating future economic growth, I decided to drill down a little deeper into the BLS numbers to see just what Business and Financial Operations means in Maine and the United States.
Perhaps most interesting is the greater variance within this category compared to the variance for all occupations. Compared to the national average, our shares run from zero in managers for performers and in logisticians to nearly 500 percent in purchasing agents for farm products. We've got fewer Jerry Maguires and Beautiful Minds and more potato, blueberry and lobster buyers.
For this subcategory, I defined an average concentration as those occupations where Maine's share is within 20 percent of the national average. This includes business operations specialists (don't ask; it's the largest category in both Maine and the U.S.), loan officers, convention planners, cost estimators, compliance officers, tax preparers, budget analysts and other purchasing agents and financial specialists, those running the internal operations of our businesses.
Those occupations where Maine has an above-average share are notable in showing the importance of insurance, real estate, tax analysis and preparation, retail buying and financial analysis. It is also interesting that the average salary for the 11 occupations in this above-average category is only $43,500, 12 percent below the average for the business operations category as a whole. It was also well below the $51,300 average for these occupations in the nation as a whole.
In short, Maine has an above-average concentration of workers in occupations that tend to pay less than the "all-business" average salary.
For the nine occupations for which Maine has a below average share, on the other hand, average salaries are much higher -- $56,800 in Maine and $62,700 in the U.S. By far the largest component of this subcategory is accountants and auditors. These occupations provided nearly 3,100 jobs in Maine, 15 percent of the "business operations" category, compared to 19 percent for the U.S. as a whole. In the other elements of this subcategory -- management analysts and human relations specialists -- Maine has relatively few jobs.
The conclusions are clear. If we are to increase our incomes statewide, we must seek not merely to increase our job creation generally but to increase our job creation in high-skill, high-wage occupations. The reasons for our overrepresentation in lower paying occupations undoubtedly lie, at least partially, in the heritage of our natural resource and small business history.
At the same time, however, these facts point out that income is related not merely to sector of business, but also to size of business. As businesses grow, they become more complex and need more internal organizational and analytical skills. These skills command higher wages. In short, even if we created a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity, with garages on every block spinning out new ideas and new businesses, we would not necessarily raise our incomes.
We need to nourish not just the creation of business, but also the growth of business. We need to create and attract substantial enterprises that have complex organizational needs.
Some argue that such growth risks transforming the very character of our state, bringing with organizational complexity a way of thinking and being in the world that is antithetical to the Maine ethos. I argue that while that may be true, it is not necessarily true and that the alternative is to see the character of our state evaporate with the depopulation of our rural areas anyway.
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