By generating 5000 more new workers for the Infocomm Industry beyond the projected annual increase in each of the four years in the "ramp-up" period (1999-2003) and comparing the size of the area economy in 2010 as well as the accumulated economic benefits over the 12-year forecast period to the forecast that leaves this gap unfilled, the importance of meeting the future job requirements of the Infocomm Industry are clearly evident (see Table 8).

The persistence of a shortage of 20,000 qualified workers in the Infocomm Industry will result in 20,220 other non-Infocomm jobs in the area economy not being generated. Had these new jobs been generated, they would have been spread across the economy's sectors as follows: construction, 420 jobs; manufacturing, 1,604 jobs; transportation, communications and utilities, 1,623 jobs; trade, 2,330 jobs, finance, insurance and real estate, 2,220 jobs; and services, 11,872 jobs.

Additionally, had this Infocomm worker shortage been eliminated during the 1999-2003 period, the region's cumulative personal earnings over this period would be been $17.2 billion greater than if this shortage is carried forward through the period and the cumulative value of region's total gross regional product would have been $20.1 billion larger. The opportunity cost of being unable to fill the jobs being generated in the Infocomm Industry is great and it affects all sectors in the area economy resulting in fewer new jobs, less disposable income, and slower economic growth.