Workforce & Training
Whatever your industry may be, Moore County has an adaptable workforce and a variety of local training resources to meet your industry’s workforce needs today and in the future.
Moore County has a civilian workforce of over 40,000 strong.
These are job-ready workers with the skills and work ethic to meet your workforce needs. Ninety-three percent (93%) of Moore County’s population aged 25 years and older has a high school diploma, and 42% have a bachelor’s or higher degree (Census ACS 2017 estimate), which exceed both the state and national percentages.
Thanks to Moore County’s adjacent proximity to Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, and Camp Mackall, our workforce is enhanced by separated and retired military personnel who call Moore County home and can offer employers their unique skills, valuable experience and diverse backgrounds. Our workforce is further strengthened by the civilian spouses of our military residents.
In addition, Moore County draws workers from many of the surrounding counties. Over 18,000 nonresidents commuted to jobs here in 2017.
We work closely with the Moore County NCWorks Career Center and Sandhills Community College to help new and expanding industries find the right employees. We also have access to a network of economic, education and workforce development organizations, including the state’s Department of Commerce, community college system, and state universities, that can help companies create customized training programs for new and existing employees. This assistance can include initial employee recruitment, personalized screening, pre-employment training, and company-specific training.
Workforce
Employment for Selected Private-Sector Industries – 2019:
| Industry Sector | # Employed | % to Total | Average Weekly Wage |
| Total Private Industries | 32,440 | 100% | $784.80 |
| Healthcare | 9,502 | 29.3% | $1,051.95 |
| Hospitality* | 7,062 | 21.8% | $382.09 |
| Retail | 4,657 | 14.4% | $518.51 |
| Services^ | 2,651 | 8.2% | $1,136.63 |
| Manufacturing | 1,873 | 5.8% | $780.77 |
| Construction | 1,635 | 5.0% | $951.61 |
| Agriculture | 209 | 0.64% | $723.16 |
*Hospitality includes Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services.
^Services include Information, Finance & Insurance, Real Estate, and Professional & Technical Services.
Source: NCDOC Labor & Economic Analysis Division, D4 System – Quarterly Census Employment & Wages
Employment Data:
| MONTH | LABOR FORCE | EMPLOYED | UNEMPLOYED | UNEMP. RATE % |
| MAY 2020 | 41,732 | 36,466 | 5,266 | 12.6% |
Source: NCDOC Labor & Economic Analysis Division, D4 System – Local Area Unemployment Statistics
Employee Recruitment
Moore County’s NCWorks Career Center helps local businesses find the skilled employees needed to fill job vacancies. The Career Center’s services are free of charge and include assistance with:
- Job awareness & outreach
- Local labor market data
- Job opening postings
- Job applicant screening
- Coordinating job fairs and onsite recruitment
- Space to conduct job interviews
- Employee training resources
NCWorks Online
North Carolina’s official job search website NCWorks.gov enables employers to search for candidates based on their skills, work experience, and resumes. NCWorks also provides businesses with real-time labor market information and can help identify local worker training programs.
For more information about the Moore County NCWorks Career Center & NCWorks.gov, contact:
Moore County NCWorks Career Center
Pamela Alsobrook, Director
245 Shepherd Trail
Aberdeen, NC 28315
910-695-3769
Training
Through SCC’s Division of Continuing Education, advanced manufacturing/trades courses are offered on campus in the Palmer Trades Center. These courses include National Center for Construction and Research (NCCER) Electrical Apprenticeship programs, NCCER welding courses, and the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician training program. The college is currently working to expand these offerings further to add an Automation Technician training program that will include basic electrical/electronics, PLC, and advanced PLC courses.
Customized Training Program
Through the North Carolina Community College Customized Training Program, eligible companies that meet the required criteria can receive free and customized job training at the worksite, on the community college campus, or at another location for any full-time production, technology support, or direct customer service positions created in North Carolina. Services provided include training assessment, coursework design, training delivery, and related instructional costs.
Companies eligible for this program include manufacturers, technology-intensive operations, regional or national warehousing and distribution centers, customer support centers, air courier services or national headquarters with operations outside North Carolina.
In Moore County, the Customized Training Program is administered by Sandhills Community College.
The College also offers other industry training and assistance such as:
- Training needs assessment and development of customized training plans
- Individual course development, staffing and delivery of customized courses
- Job profiling and workplace assessments including workforce credentialing assessments such as the Career Readiness Certificate (using WorkKeys assessments)
For more information about the Customized Training & Industry Support Programs, contact:
Sandhills Community College – Business & Industry Services
Ronnie Patton, Director
910-695-3769
Email: pattonr@sandhills.edu
Moore County Schools has plans in the pipeline to construct an Advanced Career Center (ACC), an innovative school offering special curriculum pathways to prepare students for careers in Health Services, Skilled Contracting Services (Trades), Global Leadership, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
While Moore County’s three existing high schools (Pinecrest, Union Pines, & North Moore) will continue to offer introductory career and technical education courses so freshmen and sophomores can explore their options, the ACC will be an extension of these high schools and all upper-level classes will be moved there. The ACC will be almost 115,000 square feet to accommodate up to 800 students.
Students will be able to earn college credits and industrial certifications and licenses to prepare them for progressing to post-secondary education or directly into the workplace. In addition, students will be required to take general courses in business, such as finance and marketing, and personal marketing (soft skills development).
Work Study, internships, apprenticeships and job shadowing opportunities will be offered to students through the ACC. Local manufacturers and other industries are encouraged to get involved.
Students attending the ACC will remain affiliated with their home high schools and attend the Career Center for part of each day before returning to their original campuses for basic studies and extracurricular activities.
The ACC will teach quantifiable technical skills to students to meet the increasing demands of the global job market. “The vocational track is catching up; it’s changing to an engineering science foundation, and Moore County is putting a framework together to fit within that model and catch up to global manufacturing,” said Pinecrest Principal Bob Christina.
Over time, the center’s curriculum may change to adapt to the job market and student interest.
The Advanced Career Center will profoundly enhance workforce development opportunities in our rural communities by cultivating talented and skills workers and helping to create sustainable jobs. This will not only benefit the students who will be Moore County’s future workforce, but also will benefit local employers who will have access to this labor pool of skilled, job-ready workers.
For more information about the Advanced Career Center, contact:
Moore County Schools
910-947-2976