The week of October 25, 1993, an estimated 11,699 full-time and 12,930 part-time jobs were open for immediate hire in the four-county Milwaukee metropolitan area. These 24,629 job openings are the result of a number of factors including seasonal fluctuations, company expansions, labor shortages in difficult to fill positions, as well as normal turnover among the 753,700 workers in the metro area due to retirements, resignations and firings. The job openings estimates are based on a survey of Milwaukee area employers conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Employment and Training Institute and Social Science Research Facility.

• The number of job openings in the Milwaukee metropolitan area fluctuates over time. In October employers were seeking slightly fewer full-time workers (11,699, compared to 11,870 openings in May 1993) but had more part-time job openings than in May (12,930, compared to 9,277).
• Retail and wholesale trade accounted for an estimated 2,000 additional part-time job openings in October 1993 compared to May 1993 job openings.
• For the metropolitan area, 46 percent of the full-time job openings paid health insurance and were adequate to support a family of four above poverty, 61 percent of the job openings paid health insurance and were adequate to support a family of three, and 76 percent paid health insurance and were adequate to support a family of two.
• Nearly half of job openings were in small companies. Forty-seven percent of full-time job openings and 45 percent of part-time openings were in companies which had employed fewer than 20 workers.
• The largest numbers of full-time job openings were split among service companies (34 percent of total full-time job openings), retail and wholesale trade (25 percent) and manufacturing (20 percent). Part-time job openings were concentrated in retail and wholesale trade (51 percent of part-time job openings) and in services (30 percent).
• Over two-thirds of the full-time openings required education, training or occupation- specific experience beyond high school, while two-thirds of part-time job openings did not. Positions requiring no previous education or experience were twice as likely to be part-time as openings for persons with some education or experience.
• Full-time jobs in service occupations accounted for almost half of openings available to individuals with less than high school completion. Most factory, crafts and transportation jobs required experience, license or occupation-specific training.
• One-half of full-time and 40 percent of part-time jobs were identified by employers as difficult to fill. Those full-time jobs requiring a college degree, license, certification, associate degree or occupation-specific training were more likely to be difficult-to-fill positions. Sixty percent of the part-time jobs identified as difficult to fill paid less than $6.00 per hour, and over half required no previous experience or training.
• Eighty percent of full-time and 24 percent of part-time positions offered health insurance.
• The 11,699 full-time job openings available the week of October 25, 1993, represented about 20 percent of jobs needed for the estimated 51,000 - 53,000 persons seeking or expected to work that month. If part-time and full-time job openings are combined, the total of 24,629 jobs represented less than half of jobs needed for the Milwaukee metro population.