Knowledge & Skill Base
Manufacturing accounts for 18.3% of Wichita metro area employment – over double the national percentage (9.0%.) Much of the Wichita area workforce is accustomed to shift work due to the area's industrial history. Large manufacturers commonly run traditional 3-shift operations or flexible 24-hour schedules. The labor force is highly skilled, in large part due to the high concentration of manufacturing firms in the area using high technology design and production methods. According to a Milken Institute study, Wichita has the highest concentration of aircraft and aircraft parts manufacturing employment (skills) in the nation. Wichita area manufacturers also utilize these precision production skills to produce high value-added products such as industrial-commercial machinery, computer equipment, fabricated metal products, instrumentation and controls, photographic equipment, plastic and composite products, chemicals, petroleum refining equipment and electronic equipment.

The Wichita area workforce has a reputation for productivity and quality as the result of strong training investment. Kansas ranks second in the country in per capita workforce development spending and fourth in the country in gross spending on workforce development. Expansion Management magazine recently ranked Kansas training programs 14th in the nation for ease of access and overall financial value to clients. According to Industry Week magazine (April 2001), Wichita ranks #1 in manufacturing among metro areas with populations under one million, and 13th overall among the top manufacturing cities in the United States. In 2001, Wichita won the Aviation Week Quality Award from Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine.

Labor Availability
Wichita Metro Area had 2008 population of 603,716 persons. Workforce availability is enhanced by the area's healthy population growth. Metro Area population grew by 32,669 persons (5.7%) from 1998 to 2008. It is a relatively young population with 2008 median age of 35.4 years (national median age 36.9 years.) Sedgwick County (pop. 482,863) is the central county of the MSA (80% of MSA population.) Planning Department county population projection is 582,000 in 2035. As of December 2009, the Wichita metro area civilian labor force is approximately 324,900 persons with an unemployment rate of 7.6%, representing about 24,740 persons.

Approximately 5,200 high school graduates are produced annually in Sedgwick County alone. There are over 36,400 college students in the Wichita metro area (about 16,500 are part-time.) These institutions graduate roughly 2,500 bachelor degrees and 1,900 associate degrees annually.

McConnell Air Force Base borders southeast Wichita. Its presence adds about 2,000 spouses of military personnel to the labor pool. The base also produces about 500 local military discharges annually. These discharged personnel offer excellent technical skills in a wide variety of fields. McConnell's mission is secure (primarily aerial refueling.) In November 2005, recommendations of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) passed into law. BRAC 2005 increased base personnel by approximately 520 positions, making McConnell AFB the largest "super tanker base" in the United States.

Wichita State University's Center for Economic Development & Business Research conducted an extensive 2007 survey of the South Central Kansas regional workforce. It contains extensive data on availability and skills of the Available Labor Pool (ALP) – which includes both currently employed and unemployed persons. For reports, see the data download section on the right hand of the screen.

Recruitment Assistance
A one-stop system to match job seekers with employers – including comprehensive testing, assessment and counseling is available through the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas. This turn-key service provides qualified job-ready applicants to new or expanding businesses.

Workforce Solutions offers employee recruitment assistance via an online job posting service, relocated spouse job search assistance, job fairs, etc.

Labor Costs
The most recent federal statistic (May 2008) for Wichita MSA average annual pay is $38,350. That is $3,920 or 9.3% below the national metro area average of $42,270. Actuarial & Technical Solutions, an authority on manufacturing worker's comp costs, assigns Kansas a 2008 cost index of 0.923, nearly 8% below the national average (1.000.)

Wichita Metro Area Occupational Wage Survey – May 2008 – Note that employment figures shown indicate number of persons employed in each occupation in the Wichita metro area (not sample size.) Click here to download this survey in Excel format (including 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentile data.)

Fringe Benefits
Local medium to large-size manufacturers typically report that benefits total 30-35% of the wage/salary base. That figure includes Workers Compensation premiums. It does not include the employer-paid portion of Social Security. Cafeteria Plans in which employees can trade off benefits for wage/salary compensation are common. Typical benefits: medical insurance (primarily company-paid/partially employee-paid), dental insurance, vision insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, 401K plan (defined contribution – not necessarily including company match) and possibly defined-benefit pension plan, vacation and sick leave. Other benefits sometimes offered – tuition reimbursement for relevant coursework, etc.

Labor – Management Relations
Kansas is an "at will" employment state. There are no unusual employment regulations or restrictions. Kansas is also a Right-To-Work state by 1958 amendment to the Kansas Constitution. The amendment was supported by 93 of the state's 105 counties and passed by a very substantial margin of 90,000 votes. Of the 22 states that prohibit required union membership (Right-To-Work or RTW states), 14 enacted RTW by state statute. Such statutory RTW laws are vulnerable to legislative reversal. Kansas is among the only eight states enacting RTW by state constitutional amendment. As such, Kansas RTW status can only be changed by a vote of the people, and is not vulnerable to legislative reversal. Unions in Kansas cannot attempt to collect "service fees" from workers who choose to not join the union.

There is a long-term trend of decreasing demand for unions in the Wichita area. Labor-management relations are generally mutually cooperative. Work stoppages are relatively rare and almost never locally originated (national strikes.) Currently about 7.2% of MSA private employment is unionized (only 0.9% outside of the major aircraft plants), versus 7.6% of the national private sector. The primary private sector union presence is in the major aircraft plants. There is virtually no union activity among the 200+ small to medium-sized aviation subcontract manufacturers, and a very low level of union activity among office employers. The vast majority of local companies are firmly non-union.

Wichita State University's Center for Economic Development & Business Research conducted an extensive 2008 survey of the South Central Kansas regional workforce. Union membership was determined to be a very low priority. Only 14% of respondents currently employed or seeking employment prefer a unionized workplace. Fully 34% prefer not to work in a unionized workplace. The remaining 53% indicated that the presence or absence of a union was of no particular importance to them either way.