ROCHESTER — Labor economists said businesses in southeastern Minnesota will have to outbid other potential employers to get the workers needed to meet demand.

A recent survey found nearly 500 construction positions and 8,000 total jobs open in southeastern Minnesota, a region with a 2.4 percent unemployment rate.

Area businesses are begging for skilled trade and service workers to help build in Rochester both for the present and the future.

The problem is likely to get much worse with a downtown medical center project expected to add 30,000 more jobs over the next two decades.

In September, officials opened a new facility which houses a vocational program to help students find careers that don’t necessarily require a four-year degree. The program would also speed students into the workforce to address Rochester’s shortage.

Labor market economist Steve Hine said the region is adding 600 workers annually, less than half of what it needs. With pay rates slowly rising up again since the Great Recession, he said Rochester must attract employees by paying higher wages.

“That just kind of raises the bar on efforts like DMC (downtown medical center) here to not only match but exceed those wage increases if they’re going to be successful in attracting people from the Twin Cities or other parts of the Minnesota or outstate,” he added.

According to Hine, the local programs that cultivate younger employees are crucial to helping improve the issue, as long as the newly trained workers stay local.