6:00: Morning News

Yes, there are good jobs in America, but you need training

The most often heard economic rallying cry is the desire for “good jobs,” and that’s usually followed by a lament about the loss of traditional manufacturing and blue collar employment where people without a college degree could make a living.

A new study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce provides valuable insights about these job market assumptions. The report shows the generalizations about the economy do not tell the whole story.

“We find that there are still 30 million good jobs that do not require a Bachelor’s degree,” the report says.  “These good jobs pay an average of $55,000 per year, and a minimum of $35,000 annually.”

Yes, thousands of good-paying traditional manufacturing jobs which required only a high school diploma or less have disappeared–they’ve gone off-shore or been replaced by automation—but new jobs that do not require a BA are being added in healthcare, finance, sales and information technology.

These are “skilled-services” jobs that typically require the worker to have more than a high school education.  “Good jobs have shifted primarily to workers with Associate’s degrees, who have gained more than three million net new jobs” since 1991, the report says.

For example, 25 years ago a machinist with a good manufacturing job made $44,000 a year.  That job may have disappeared, but it has been replaced by a computer support technician who makes $60,000.

Community and technical colleges and certification courses are playing an increasingly important role in preparing workers for these new positions. The Wall Street Journal reports, “Workers are getting the message.  The number of career-focused certificates awarded by community colleges in fields such as electronics engineering, emergency management and video production more than doubled between 2000 and 2014,” according to the report.

A free market economy is disruptive. Jobs are going to disappear, but as the economy expands and technology improves, new jobs are added that require different skills. “With the decline in traditional blue-collar industries, there has been a shift toward skilled-services industries with higher concentrations of workers who have post-secondary education and training.”

We often ask young people what they want to do with the expectation that the American Dream remains within reach for those who are willing to work toward it.  But when heading into the job market, the conversation shifts. The question becomes “What can you do?”

The Georgetown study shows you don’t necessarily have to have a college degree to get a good job, but you better have skills beyond a high school diploma if you want to land one of those positions.

 

 





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