The Wisconsin Economic Future Study, a comprehensive look at the state’s economic performance in key industries and competitiveness compared to peer states, recommends addressing the “real and perceived skills” gap in the state while also re-evaluating legislative policies for key “driver industries” in the state.
“To improve Wisconsin’s competitiveness compared to other states, we need to reinvest in productivity, workforce development and technology,” said Lee Swindall, vice president of business and industry development for WEDC. “There are many important sectors in Wisconsin, but the study showed that the manufacturing sector has the highest industry concentrations across the state and has had some of the highest growth over the last decade.”
While the comparison with peer states found similar drops in employment over the last decade, Wisconsin had the lowest measure of worker productivity among the group — a measure of Gross State Product per worker. Wisconsin was also lower than the national median on that measure by $22,124 in GSP per worker.
The report looks at the performance of Wisconsin’s economy with eight states classified as “competitors” — Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina.
The study also depicted a shift in the role of manufacturing in the state. In 2000, manufacturing employed 20 percent of the state’s workforce; in 2011, it only employed 15.4 percent. During that time, health care and social assistance grew from 10.2 percent to 12.9 percent of the workforce.
The study noted that manufacturers in the state are having trouble achieving “forward-looking” approaches to keep pace with 21st century demands, saying that they “lack key success factors — talented people, business systems and equipment, company-specific strategies — necessary to achieve next-generation success.”
