Workforce

With thousands of new recruits each year, you can raise a workforce of majors. Thanks to the 11 colleges and universities located here, Manchester produces thousands of graduates newly-trained and ready to work in engineering, business, international relations, technical fields, business communications, product management and hundreds of other fields. Meanwhile, the Manchester Young Professionals Network (link: www.mypn.org) boasts over 1,300 members between the ages of 20 and 40. As the fastest growing population in New England, New Hampshire offers 1.3 million potential employees with about 63 percent of them within 30 miles of Manchester.

Manchester workforce highlights include:

• In 2009, the state's first Job Corps center will open in Manchester, providing a no-cost education and vocational training program for young people ages 16-24. Students will receive training and workforce development and ultimately, receive assistance finding a job. The project has been approved by the U.S. Department of Labor and Manchester's leadership.
• About 62 percent of New Hampshire's population lies within 30 miles or 35 minutes commuting time of Manchester, and the Boston area labor force is less than an hour's drive away.
• The Manchester MetroNECTA (New England City and Town Areas) labor force numbers 106,960; the unemployment rate is 4.1 percent (March 2007).
• Manchester's proximity to Boston offer local companies access to an educated and dynamic workforce. Students graduating from Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern and other universities often search for jobs in Manchester.
• The minimum wage in New Hampshire is $5.15/hour, and the average hourly rate for manufacturing production workers in the Manchester MetroNECTA is $19.71/hour (March 2007).

Click here for demographic information, including education attainment levels and other workforce-related information.

Local and state resources include:

NH Works is a one-stop source for employment information, including the services of NH Employment Security and the federally-funded NH Workforce Opportunity Council that coordinates a variety of workforce development programs. The NH Workforce Opportunity Council also administers the Workforce Development Training Fund.

New Hampshire Employment Security's Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau collects, assembles, and analyzes data on employment and wages in New Hampshire and in the State's eighteen Labor Market Areas.