"The New Geography Of Jobs"

The New Geography Of Jobs

By Scott Benjamin

 “Every student at Western Connecticut State University [WCSU] should read this book,” sophomore Hunter Sabia said of “The New Geography of Jobs,” which explains why innovation hubs are creating a large volume of high-paying positions.

“It wasn’t the same as a lot of textbooks for college classes,” said WCSU senior Accounting major Carla Wdowski of the 2012 book by Economics professor Dr. Enrico Moretti of the University of California at Berkeley.

“It was very engaging,” she said of the “The New Geography Of Jobs,” which we used during Fall 2013 in an online section of PS 104: World Governments, Economies and Cultures at WCSU and will be using again in a conventional  class during Spring 2014.

The book received considerable praise in the student Discussion board comments of Blackboard Learn.

In a review, Forbes called it “easily the most important read of 2012.”

“The New Geography Of Jobs” analyzes why San Jose, Seattle, Raleigh-Durham, Austin and the Route 128 corridor in Massachusetts have become the models of the 21st Century economy, manufacturing giants such as Detroit and Flint have become outdated and many metropolitan areas haven’t determined which direction they will take.

Moretti stated that for every innovation job there are usually five additional positions created in that metro area’s economy and two of them are either a physician or an attorney earning well into six figures.

The professor wrote that MicroSoft has more impact on the metro Seattle economy than Boeing, which has more employees, because the average salary at MicroSoft, even with factoring in the secretaries and custodians, is $170,000 a year, which provides considerable income for discretionary purchases.

“It's more of an observation rather than a fact-giving book like I've read in my other business classes,” Sabia said in a phone interview. “He not only tells you about the latest business trends but compares them to previous years. The most important aspect he mentions is the location because that can sink or make your company. Moving to areas that have similar surrounding interests will help you attract business.”

Connecticut is a prime example. The Stamford metro area, for example, ranks first in the country with 56 percent of its workers holding college degrees. Those college-educated workers earn an average of $133,000 a year, which also ranks first.

On a mid-semester project, a vast majority of the students agreed with Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy’s decision to use state assistance to lure Jackson Labs to the University of Connecticut Health Center site in Farmington and develop a bio-sciences hub.

Malloy, who spoke to a conventional section of the class in April 2010 when he was running for governor, said that the state had fewer jobs than in 1989 and that his focus would be on the nanno-tech, bio-tech, bio-med, digital design and fuel cell technology sectors.

Connecticut already has dozens of bio-science-related companies, including Boehringer-Ingelheim, which is Danbury’s largest employer. State Rep. Bob Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury has said that WCSU’s midtown Science Building, which opened in 2005, has produced many graduates that have landed positions in the bio-sciences.

Moretti wrote that usually when a brain hub is established, it’s hard for a company to move elsewhere because there likely won’t be a comparable labor pool. He stated that companies like to locate in Silicon Valley, for example, because they know there is a volume of talent and workers like to live there because there are many job opportunities

Since taking office in 2011 Malloy has provided assistance to some major employers, including the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund and ESPN, through his First Five and Next Five programs, as well as establishing a program for small businesses seeking to expand.

“On the East Coast you have to do that with subsidies because of the high cost of living,” said Wdowski, who lives in White Plains, N.Y., in Westchester County, which has “the highest real estate taxes in the country.”

“A lot of kids move out of Connecticut to college and they don’t come back because they can’t find a job or they can’t afford to live in Connecticut,” she added.

Sabia said, “I believe students who are looking for jobs or are hoping to start their own business should read [The New Geography Of Jobs]. It tells you how to position yourself for where the jobs will be available.”

Scott Benjamin is an adjunct professor of Political Science at Western Connecticut State University

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