----- Original Message ----- From: Greg LeRoy <goodjobs at ctj.org> To: Me <goodjobs at ctj.org> Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2000 11:42 AM Subject: San Diego "Clusters" Questioned
> We have often said that "cluster" strategies -- using subsidies to benefit
> smaller companies in promising sectors with aid such as skills
> development -- can be a smart use of economic development resources. But
> when such a strategy merely benefits a sector that already has the highest
> wages *and* growing wage inequality, there is a legitimate question as to
> whether that is a prudent taxpayer investment.
>
> That is the thrust of a new study by the Center for Policy Initiatives in
> San Diego. CPI found that the region's high-tech cluster strategy only
> benefits 18% of the region's workers, and income inequality in that sector
> is rising faster than in any other. Overall, median wages continue to
> decline, the share of part-time jobs is increasing sharply, and the number
> of working poor continues to rise.
>
> It's a cautionary tale for any region that subsidizes high-tech as an
> economic development "silver bullet."
>
> The study is at: www.onlinecpi.org and a press release is below.
>
> Greg LeRoy
> Good Jobs First -- www.goodjobsfirst.org
> - - - -
> For Immediate Release, September 18, 2000
> Contact: Donald Cohen (858) 277-4538
>
> New study shows San Diego High-tech Boom Leaving majority of workers
behind
> Regional Planning Efforts Promote High Quality Jobs, but Income Divide
Grows
>
> SAN DIEGO, California, September 20, 2000
>
> Opening up debate on the high-tech orientation of the Region's economic
> development strategies, Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) will release a
> groundbreaking report and will have personal testimonials from SD workers
> left out of the new high-tech economy.
>
> The CPI study is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the region's
> leading post-cold war industrial economic clusters. The study finds that
> while the number of high-tech jobs are on the rise in San Diego, only 18%
of
> the region's workforce benefits from current planning efforts.
>
> The study, Planning for Shared Prosperity or Growing Inequality? An
In-Depth
> Look at San Diego's Leading Economic Clusters, finds that along side, the
> region's rapid growth in high-tech sectors the majority of the region's
> workers are experiencing stagnant wages and declining benefits.
>
> The study's major findings include:
>
> High-tech industries experienced fast growth from 1990 to 1998 adding
> 36,794, but non-high-tech sectors grew much faster adding 71,079 new jobs
> during this same time period.
>
> Median wages continue decreasing for all San Diego workers, high-tech
> included, even while average wages increase.
>
> The percentage of working poor continues to rise in the Region, reaching
> 12.5 percent in 1998, with the most dramatic increase experienced within
the
> high-tech sectors (134% increase from1990 to 1998).
>
> Lower-skilled occupations are increasing in all industry sectors with
Sales,
> Services and Laborer occupations accounting for 40% of all workers.
>
> · Non-white employment has increased significantly in high-tech
> industries but women are decreasing as a percentage of workers in these
> industries.
>
> · Fully 33% of San Diego County's workers have no health coverage,
> although employer paid coverage is slightly higher in the high-tech
sectors
> than in other sectors.
>
> · The percentage of part-time workers has increased for all
industry
> sectors, with a 260% increase from 1990 to 1998.
>
> · Declining unionization in the region has been driven by dramatic
> trends in the high-tech industries where unionization fell from 14 percent
> to 3 percent, from 1990 to 1998.
>
> The high-tech sector is generating many high wage jobs, but low-wage jobs
in
> the growing service and visitor industry sectors are growing even faster
> during our Region's prolonged economic expansion, says economist Sundari
> Baru.
>
> Baru adds that, High-tech growth can be a catalyst for the region's
economic
> development, but our data show that the majority of the region's
employment
> growth is in sectors not affected by planning efforts. Clearly planners
must
> address these jobs if they are to impact the growing inequality in our
> region.
>
> ###
>
>
>
>
Jason Bailey
Democracy Resource Center
253 Regency Circle, Suite A
Lexington, KY 40503
859.276.0563 or 859.278.8644 or
1.800.647.0060
www.kydrc.org
jbailey at kydrc.org