And, 43% of all construction openings will require less than high school to enter – the remaining openings require a high school diploma, and there are a handful that require several years of training as well – these include electricians, plumbers and supervisors.

What about wage trends?

Ideally, we’d compare occupational wages over time to see if they’ve kept up with inflation, but the available information is compiled from a sample of wage earners. The types and sizes of businesses from which the sample is drawn will vary considerably from year to year, making it difficult to draw valid conclusions about occupational wage trends.

A more reliable way to analyze wages in any particular occupation is to see how they stack up to the overall median wage for all occupations in any one year – the median wage is where half of the earners make more and half make less.

So, using this method, and according to the OED’s latest wage survey (2023), the median hourly wage for all workers in all occupations in the Salem area was $23.85.

Six in ten construction workers in 2023 were paid above the overall median wage of $23.85. And these workers worked in occupations that had competitive edge entry requirements of non-degree post-secondary training – this is specific job-related training not resulting in a degree.

Examples of these types of occupations are those of plumbers and electricians, both requiring extensive job training.

However, the occupation with the most workers in the industry (3,427 workers) was that of construction laborer, an occupation requiring less than high school to enter. These workers earned less than the overall median wage.

Now turning to manufacturing: Salem’s manufacturing industry employed 11,500 workers in February of 2025, and comprises durables manufacturing (5,900 workers) and non-durables, mostly food (5,600 workers). Durables and non-durables manufacturing employment comprises 8% of private sector employment.

Durables include items such as wood products, machines, machine parts, semi-conductor chips, cabinets and industrial windshield wipers. Since 2001, durable goods employment has declined 25%, and non-durables16%.

Steady decline in durable goods employment has been the norm since the late 1970s, in Salem, Oregon and the U.S. The reasons most often given for the decline are offshoring of jobs and improvements in technology.

The employment decline in non-durables is largely due to closure of some of the large food canneries that historically dominated food manufacturing in Salem. As consumer tastes have changed, there’s been an increase in smaller niche food manufacturers of items such as potato chips, soy sauce, cheeses and tortillas.

What about recent trends? From 2023 through 2024, monthly employment in durables manufacturing has fluctuated up and down by a few hundred jobs. February 2025 employment was at 5,900 jobs.

Over the last two years, food manufacturing employment peaked at approximately 4,500 workers in the summer months, and declined some in winter months. Food manufacturing employment was 3,800 in February of 2025.

Some key demographics of the manufacturing workforce are as follows:

• The workforce is older now than in 2001; back then, 37% of workers were aged 45 and older, and in 2024, 52% were;
• The percentage of women workers has increased since 2001 – it was 31% in 2001 and 34% in 2004;
• The Latino workforce increased from 18% in 2001 to 32% in 2024.

OED’s occupational projections show growth for manufacturing employment over the next ten years at a bit over 4%, half that of overall employment growth. Growth and replacement openings over the ten years number nearly 20,000, 5% of all total job openings.

One-third of manufacturing openings will occur in five occupations – assemblers and fabricators; supervisors; welders; inspectors, testers and sorters; and packaging and filling machine operators.

Most manufacturing occupations require a high school diploma for entry, and 15 occupations require post-secondary training (non-degree) as a competitive edge requirement.

What about wages? Again, from the 2023 OED survey, nearly a quarter of all manufacturing workers were paid above the overall median wage of $23.85. And these workers were in occupations that had competitive edge entry requirements of non-degree post-secondary training.

To summarize: Construction industry employment has had ups and downs and will likely continue to do so, but overall will grow. Manufacturing employment, especially in durables, will likely continue to decline. And, workers in both industries will continue to need training in order to earn above-average wages.

The local workforce board, the Willamette Workforce Partnership (WWP – the sponsor of this column) helps to fill training gaps by providing job seekers with access to and financial subsidies for job training through its network of training providers.

WWP also aids local employers in skilling up their current workforce. As an example, over the last two years WWP has funded 11 area manufacturers to provide their workers training in various aspects of organizational, leadership and technological advancement.

Job seekers and area employers may access information about WWP’s services at the following: https://willwp.org/.

A brief endnote: There’s talk of a weakening economy, but employment in Salem has been growing slowly and steadily and the unemployment rate as of March was still low.

The next column will appear in July – stay tuned!

Pam Ferrara of the Willamette Workforce Partnership continues a regular column examining local economic issues. She may be contacted at [email protected]