DALLAS, May 21, 2015 - JPMorgan Chase & Co. today released its Skills Gap Report for Dallas-Fort Worth, describing the opportunity gap between the thousands of middle-skill jobs created by the regions' vibrant economy and the lack of career readiness of many of its citizens.

DFW's economy currently has 960,000 middle-skill jobs, which represents 29 percent of the region's workforce. Based on a study of recent hiring trends, the local economy is projected to generate 42,000 middle-skill job openings annually through 2018. Middle-skill positions pay an average, median wage of $24.47 per hour, which is 35 percent higher than the region's living wage of $18.08. Yet, as more middle-skill jobs become available, the report finds that many job seekers in the region do not have the necessary skills, training or education to fill these good paying, available jobs.

"Dallas has enjoyed a healthy resident employment growth of nearly 10 percent over the past decade," said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. "Our unemployment rate has consistently beaten the average of the other 10 largest cities since 2007. That success is helping fuel the 371,000 jobs added in Dallas-Fort Worth since 2001, and the region is expected to continue outpacing national job-growth trends in the years ahead. This region is thriving, however more must be done to help aspiring workers attain good jobs that are waiting to be filled."

The Dallas-Fort Worth area added more jobs than any other metropolitan area in 2014. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the DFW metro region created 136,900 jobs of all types last year. It was the first time since 1990 that DFW topped the bureau's rankings for metro job growth.

The JPMorgan Chase Skills Gap Report states that about a third of the middle-skilled jobs that DFW employers posted and were trying to fill from July 2013 to July 2014 were concentrated in the healthcare and information technology sectors. There were 32,900 middle-skilled job openings posted in the local healthcare industry during that one-year window. In the information technology sector, there were another 6,739 job openings posted.

According to the report, many middle-skilled jobs in the local healthcare industry are taking 50 percent longer to fill than the regional average. This trend, along with continued growth of new middle-skills jobs, suggests DFW will face long-term challenges if it does not expand its talent pipeline for middle-skill occupations.

"This report by JPMorgan Chase pinpoints the greatest areas of opportunity for workers seeking local middle-skill jobs," said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price. "It gives us a roadmap to help our region achieve greater collaboration among our business community, public sector, educational institutions and social service organizations. Working together, we can address the mismatch between job skills and employment needs in our region."

Along with releasing the Skills Gap Report, JPMorgan Chase announced it is committing $2 million to workforce training in Tarrant County. This adds to the existing $5 million commitment to fund workforce programs in Dallas announced last year, bringing the total commitment for the Metroplex to $7 million.

"This commitment from JPMorgan Chase means more of our residents will get better jobs, helping them provide a better life for their families. It means our businesses will have the supply of skilled workers they need to grow," Mayor Price said. "This innovative public-private strategy has the power to make our economy stronger and more inclusive."

As part of its local commitment, Chase is announcing two new grants totaling $700,000. One is to the Parkland Foundation to support the Rise to Success Fellows workforce program, which is designed to create a pipeline of future healthcare professionals. The other grant is to Per Scholas, a workforce training program that leads to a professional Comp TIA A+ certification.

The growth of middle-skill jobs presents an opportunity for Dallas to address the city's poverty rate, which at 24.4 percent is among the highest in the nation. The poverty rate in Fort Worth is 20.1 percent, which also is higher than the national average of 14.5 percent.

According to the report, nearly 1 million DFW residents lack a high school diploma, a significant obstacle in obtaining well-paying jobs. A key goal of the New Skills at Work initiative is to strengthen the "first rung" of career pathway programming so that low-income, low-skill adults can more effectively prepare for and earn middle-skill credentials.

"There is great strength in the region's economy, and there's a high-quality education and training infrastructure already in place here in DFW," said Chauncy Lennon, JPMorgan Chase's head of workforce initiatives. "What we must do is collaborate and work strategically to make sure the community and its tremendous resources are aligned in a way that leads to success for both workers and for employers."

The Skills Gap Report and workforce grants are part of the bank's $250 million, five-year global workforce readiness initiative, New Skills at Work, the largest ever private-sector effort aimed at addressing the skills gap. Last year Chase kicked off the program with a $500,000 grant to the Dallas County Community College District. The grant funds a program called Project OnRamp, training for certified nursing aides so that they can become patient care technicians and increase their wages by 20 percent.

"The $500,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase provides a win-win situation for local employers who need skilled workers and for the underemployed hoping to train for a better future," said Dr. Joe May, Chancellor of the Dallas County Community College.

Dominque Island is an El Centro College student who doubled her income after just four weeks of training as part of Project OnRamp. Even though she had completed some basic training in nursing, Island was working part-time in retail. When she heard about Project OnRamp, she knew it was her chance to take advantage of tuition-paid professional training she might not otherwise be able to afford.

After getting her EKG certification, Island was able to get a full-time job at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where she monitors the heart rates of patients in the hospital's intensive care unit. She is continuing with her nursing training as part of Project OnRamp and aspires to get her bachelor's degree in nursing.

"Instead of making minimum wage, now I make $15 an hour, with medical benefits. It makes a huge difference," the 22-year-old student said. "I was able to buy a car and pay for more nursing courses. I am able to help my parents rather than depend on them for so much help. I am very thankful I came across Project Onramp."

Skills Gap Key Findings and Recommendations

Dallas' healthcare and information technology sectors have high demand for middle-skill workers, commonly defined as people with more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor's degree. Many of the middle-skill jobs highlighted in the report pay a good wage and offer career advancement. The median hourly wage for middle-skill health care jobs in DFW is $29.27. The information technology sector pays an median hourly wage of $29.11 for its middle skilled jobs locally.

The report found that middle-skill jobs in the health care sector are projected to grow 5.5 percent annually between 2013 and 2018. The information technology industry expects to see its middle-skill jobs grow at a 3.6 percent rate over that same time period.

"National projections forecast continued high demand for skilled workers in the healthcare sector and that is certainly the case in Dallas, as well," said Jim Dunn, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Talent Officer of Parkland Health & Hospital System. "This presents both opportunities and challenges, as we seek trained, qualified candidates to work in our system. The opening in August of the new Parkland hospital, which is the nation's largest hospital construction project, symbolizes the growth trajectory for healthcare services in North Texas."

Other key sectors driving middle-skill job growth in DFW are finance, aerospace manufacturing and the manufacture of electronics and components. A significant challenge in meeting workforce demand is 950,000 of the region's adults - or 22 percent of the population - do not have a high-school diploma. There are 640,000 residents aged 16-64 who have limited English proficiency.

"Addressing the growing opportunity gap for low-income and low-skilled workers must be one of our greatest workforce priorities," said Anne Motsenbocker, head of Chase Middle Market Banking in Texas. "Helping people gain the work skills they need will transform lives and strengthen our region's economy. That is what New Skills at Work is all about."

About the Skills Gap Report
JPMorgan Chase is releasing a series of skills gap reports in nine metropolitan regions in the United States and four European countries. The reports draw from an array of data, including traditional and real-time labor market information and analysis from EMSI and Burning Glass Technologies, Inc. The reports focus on middle-skills occupation as defined by Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) based on aggregated data from over 90 federal, state and private sources and a multi-variable technique that includes three criteria: family-sustaining wages, recent employment growth, and employment size. Burning Glass provided real-time labor market demand information from online job postings by aggregating and analyzing code data from multiple classification and occupation databases. Jobs for the Future integrated EMSI and Burning Glass data with other data sources like the analysis of longitudinal Quarterly Workforce Indicators from the U.S. Census Bureau, to write the report.

About JPMorgan Chase
Chase has 242 branches and 12,600 employees in North Texas, making it one of the top employers in the metropolitan area. Chase serves 2.3 million consumer customers and 182,000 Small Businesses in North Texas. In the past three years, Chase has hired more than 1,859 veterans in Texas - more than any other state in the country.

Media Contact:
JPMorgan Chase,
Greg Hassell
greg.hassell@chase.com
713-419-9208

distributed by