Southwest Minnesota is a national leader in agricultural production, and renewable energy.
The region's thriving manufacturing sector includes food processing, machinery, printing, metal products, and computers and electronic products.
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4/5/2017 9:54:04 AM
Luke Greiner
Management positions provide economic opportunities that few occupations in Southwest Minnesota can match. At just under $37 bucks per hour, the median wage for management occupations is more than twice as high as the median wage for all occupations in the area and nearly $7 an hour more than architectural and engineering jobs, the next highest paying occupational category.
Why does the buck stop at the top? Managers play a crucial role in the businesses that employ them. They are typically responsible for the decision-making and resource coordination that enable organizations to accomplish their goals. The job of a manager is demanding, and not all workers have the robust skillset and personality to pull it off.
While most management occupations require a bachelor's degree for formal training, most managers also need many soft skills often built through years of practice and experience, such as continuous learning, creative problem solving, setting effective priorities, and handling tough conversations.
DEED's Occupational Employment Statistics program details 32 different management occupations in Southwest Minnesota, showing just how vast and diverse the skills required in management can be. General and operations managers account for over one-fourth of all management jobs in the region. The region also has a high concentration of Financial Managers, Chief Executives, and Sales Managers (Table 1).
Not surprisingly, the highest paying management occupation is the Chief Executive, with a median wage of $114,658 per year. The top 10 percent of chief executives earn a salary of more than $190,590. While this fantastic wage is far beyond what most employees take home, the CEO has a position of extreme importance to organizations, typically requiring the skillset of many different occupations combined. Southwest Minnesota is home to a higher share of chief executive jobs than the state, comprising 6.3 percent of all management jobs in the region compared to 5 percent statewide.
The Education and Health Services industry employs the largest number of managers in Southwest Minnesota, followed closely by Manufacturing. But Manufacturing has the highest median wage for management occupations in Southwest Minnesota at $44.11 per hour, which is $6 higher than the median wage in Education and Health Services, and about $7 higher than the total of all industries.
This look at the distribution of management across different industries provides some insight into the opportunities that exist for aspiring managers working their way up the career ladder. While the largest number of management career opportunities exists in Education and Health Services and Manufacturing, opportunities present themselves in less obvious ways in other industries. With a higher share of jobs in management occupations, industries such as Professional and Business Services or Financial Activities may provide increased chances of moving up into such a position if job seekers are able to find work in the industry and prove their abilities to their employer.
Read more about the wide variety of Management Careers in Southwest Minnesota.
Contact Luke Greiner at 320-308-5378 or email luke.greiner@state.mn.us or Mark Schultz.
