The occupation is the kinds of work performed by the employee. Within each industry different types of work is performed, in different levels of a hierarchy. In addition to the major industries in Elgin and St. Thomas the majority of the occupations can be seen in the figure. Sales and services (21%) are the highest, followed by trades (20%), and occupations in processing, manufacturing and utilities (15%). This indicates an emphasis on strong skilled labour force.
Although there is a large emphasis on manufacturing there is also a large share of Elgin County’s workforce employed through Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME). The following chart shows the SME employment:
