This report makes the case for long term, consistent and culturally intelligent investment to tap the enormous potential of the ALANA (African Latino Asian and Native American) workforce in Minnesota. Data from this analysis is primarily from the Census QWI data explorer accessed via DEED’s website for the year 2021.
The more than half a million ALANA workers have a very significant impact on the Minnesotan economy working in a wide range of industry sectors. To provide an estimate of the overall economic impact I used the ALANA Brain Trust IMPLAN Economic Model for Minnesota. This is a very standard input output economic model used by economists to document the economic impact of policies and programs. The model estimated that ALANA workers in Minnesota help produce around $200 billion in goods and services and support over a million jobs. This work helps support a tax base of $24 billion dollars.
The data from the QWI explorer for 2021 reveals that ALANA workers are present in every sector of the Minnesotan economy.
There are 5 industry sectors where ALANA workers make up over 20 percent of the workforce illustrating their critical role in the Minnesotan economy. These sectors include Healthcare, Manufacturing and Agriculture. There are 54 sub sectors of the economy where ALANA workers make up at least 25 percent of the workforce.
Recent data from Census 2000 and American Community Survey 2021 also illustrates that between 2000 and 2021 there have been shifts within sectors where ALANA workers are found. This is important so that we can develop appropriate workforce strategies and support systems. For example in the data below we see there has been a decline in the share of Hmong workers in Manufacturing and an increase in their presence in Education, Health and Social Services.
Similarly when we look at the sectors where Mexican American workers are located we find some changes between the period 2000-2021. There is a decline in their presence in Manufacturing and a growth in Education, Health and Social Services, Agriculture, Construction and Retail.
The Ageing of the Minnesotan Workforce
There is a significant shift happening in the Minnesotan workforce with the growing ageing of the workforce. Seven important sectors of the economy have over 25 percent of the workforce over 55 years old: Transportation and Warehousing, Real Estate, Rental and Leasing, Wholesale Trade, Manufacturing, Utilities, Mining et al, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing.
Fortunately with a younger ALANA workforce and another half a million youth in the workforce pipeline, ALANA workers are currently and can in the future play a critical role in not only filling this gap but also upskill our workforce. The data below shows the presence of ALANA workers in many sectors with a large ageing workforce and also a low presence in sectors that will face a severe labor crunch in the future – for example, utilities and mining.
The data also shows the strong presence of Female workers in the Minnesotan economy across all sectors of the economy. In nearly all sectors of the economy they represent at least a quarter of the workforce.
More significantly in 7 sectors of the economy they represent at least or more than 50 percent of the workforce: 77 percent of the workforce in healthcare and 66 percent of the workforce in education. Given the ALANA presence among female workers, this data has important policy implications.
Policy Implications of the Data
The first policy implication is the acknowledge the important value of ALANA workers to the Minnesotan economy. ALANA workers not only build their own wealth but also help to create wealth and prosperity for all – to the tune of at least $200 billion in goods and services and supporting over a million jobs and generating $24 billion in taxes. ALANA workers are a major engine of economic growth.
Yet the history of ALANA workers in Minnesota is that they have faced strong barriers to entry as well as advancement. For Minnesota’s future global competitiveness, we need to invest in upskilling the ALANA workers currently in the economy and the youth who are currently in school and higher education institutions.
Below are some broad policy areas that would need long term, consistent and culturally intelligent investments over the next 10-20 years.
First we need to put the “worker” at the center of any workforce development strategy or program. Currently it is the bureaucrat, institution, funding source or rules and regulation that dominates a strategy. We need to explore how to make it easy for an individual to get trained, certified and placed in the workforce and not get bogged down with institutional and organizational challenges.
We need to offer career pathways – career ladders into good paying jobs as well as within jobs having similar skills though in different occupation. This can enable better career mobility. Particularly important is the career pathways into the industries of the future such as Artificial Intelligence, alternative energy or big data.
We need to develop a plan of transfer of knowledge between the ageing workforce and the new workers so that the critical gaps in our workforce are addressed.
We need the cultural intelligence to analyze shifts that are happening within our ALANA workforce as illustrated in the experience of the Hmong and Mexican American workers and develop pathways for these workers into the new areas of opportunity they are seeking.
We need to invest in youth apprenticeships and internships to help prepare the next generation of workers.
As many employers are doing today, we need to examine our businesses and institutions and change policies, culture and protocols so that everyone feels welcome and respected and can all achieve the fruits of hard work and dedication.
The strong presence of female workers in the economy points to the need of restructuring our places of work to enable their success and infrastructure for productivity and success.
Our experience with Minnesotans facing huge barriers to employment such as those coming out of prison reveals that with the proper support systems, training and employers, we can have a world class workforce. We should deepen those efforts and transfer the knowledge learned from these efforts to other employment programs.
We need a culture of financial and program accountability. But we need to do it in a way that does not stifle the people and organizations offering employment placement programs. This shifts the focus from the “job seeker” to the “bureaucrat.”
We have to construct programs that encourage creativity and innovation as those skills are the necessary ingredient of a globally competitive economy.
The ideas expressed in this report derives from people and conversations connected with the work of the ALANA Brain Trust and engagement with workforce providers and participants.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
