Workforce

The Milwaukee Region offers a well-educated, skilled and dedicated workforce. The Federal Reserve ranks it the most productive region in the Midwest and the ninth most productive region nationwide.

More than 85 percent of the region’s working age residents are high school graduates, more than half have attended college and approximately 27 percent are college graduates – exceeding the national average. More than 18,000 people graduate from the region’s universities and colleges each year.

While known as a manufacturing center, the service and technology sectors have experienced the most rapid growth in recent years. Between 1990 and 2004, service firms added more than 100,000 jobs, a 17 percent increase. More than 90,000 people are employed in technology positions.

Management and professional occupations account for 35 percent of the workforce, followed by sales and office occupations (27 percent); production, transportation and material moving occupations (17 percent); service occupations (13 percent) and construction (7 percent).