WASHINGTON, D.C. --Congressmen Rob Andrews (NJ-01), Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02), and Jim Saxton (NJ-03), today released a study done by the United States Department o Labor that makes clear what many South Jersey employers and workers assumed: that South Jersey is indeed a regional labor market that needs regional solutions to regional problems.  The results of the study demonstrate that 154,000 residents of South Jersey--about 20 percent of our workforce-- are working in counties outside of where they reside.

"South Jersey's residents do not stop at their respective county's borders when searching for employment.   Because our current set up as it relates to South Jersey's job training entities would support that theory," said Andrews.  “I want to search for new regional approaches to allocate job-training resources.  We should train South Jersey's workers by where the jobs are in our region not by imaginary boundaries". 

“I am pleased to participate in searching for a regional approach to job market strategies with Congressmen Rob Andrews and Jim Saxton,” Congressman LoBiondo said.  “Fueling economic growth in Southern New Jersey is a top priority of mine, it can be done if we all work together to make it happen.  Coordinating job training programs in our region is one way to do this – our residents need to know they are not limited to the county in which they live for position openings or job training.”

"South Jersey's growing economy is diverse and our labor market has correspondingly evolved into a healthy mix," said Saxton, Vice Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. "Our jobs range broadly from high-tech defense industry jobs, to jobs in agricultural, shore tourism, manufacturing, government and service sectors. The results from the study will help us tailor our job training to the characteristics of employment trends."

Andrews highlighted a key finding of the study that supports the idea that South Jersey's job market is truly regional. He noted that, according to this study, approximately 1 in 5 South Jersey residents (154,000 workers) works in a county they do not live in.  

 A regional approach would, for example, mean that residents of Lindenwold (Camden County) should know that they can chose training for a high-tech job in Marlton (Burlington County); a health care job in Stratford (Camden County), or a casino dealer job in Atlantic City (Atlantic County)--not only the job in Stratford. 

Andrews has concluded from this study that more work needs to go into developing a regional plan to coordinate South Jersey counties' job training programs so as to provide for increased access to quality labor for employers of our region which in turn will help to fuel additional economic growth.  At the same time, residents of South Jersey participating in these programs will not be limited to position openings of the county they live in but will be able to broaden their job search to the entire South Jersey region because they can be trained in the requisite skills for that job.