Opportunities Abound In Middle-Skill Jobs

Over the past 20 years, jobs that can provide a middle-class income and lifestyle for someone who only has a high school diploma have been disappearing faster than the polar ice cap. Today, everyone needs some kind of postsecondary education or training in order to qualify for entry-level jobs.

Our nation is geared toward encouraging individuals to earn 4-year bachelor’s degrees. Yet almost a third of new job openings between 2010 and 2020 are going to require “middle skills”, according to Anthony Carnevale, executive director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. These jobs require more than a high school education but less than a 4-year bachelor’s degree. Education and training may include a 2-year associate’s degree, certification, occupational licensing, or apprenticeships. Some examples of middle-skill occupations are electrician, dental hygienist, paralegal and police officer. And in some of the middle-skill jobs, particularly those with math and science at the core, job opportunities are healthy. For example, jobs for registered nurses and health technologists are expected to grow nationally by more than 1 million by 2018.

The problem? There is a critical need for workers to fill these jobs, but there is a severe shortage of workers with the right skills and training to fill them. In the past, employers provided the training for middle-skill jobs. Now individuals must seek out programs at community colleges as well as vocational and technical schools, and apprenticeship programs in order to gain the education to move into these lucrative careers. With the right education and training, the doors to these promising careers open wide.

Fastest growing segment and excellent earning potential
These jobs are the fastest growing segment of the job market. The Workforce Boards of Metropolitan Chicago reports that middle-skill jobs will represent 43% of the job market by 2014; this compares to 25% High-Skill jobs (bachelor’s degree or greater) and 32% Low-Skill jobs.

Salaries, and even lifetime earnings, of some middle-skill occupations can actually top those of college graduates. An article in Educational Leadership cites 2011 research by Carnevale, Rose, & Cheah that reports, “Workers with two-year degrees in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math), in fact, have greater average lifetime earnings than college graduates in most other career areas.” They cite lifetime earnings of aircraft mechanics (2.3 million) and electricians (2.1 million) and compare them to those of teachers (1.8 million) and writers and editors (2.0 million). The Workforce Boards report that many of the middle-skill jobs pay quite high wages.

Why is there such a great need for these middle-skill workers?
There are a number of reasons that push this workforce need into critical territory.

1. Existing skills gap: First, there is a significant skills gap between requirements for jobs now and in the near future and the skill level of the current workforce. In some cases, candidates do not have the skills at all; in others, they have skills that do not match the skills that employers desperately need. Often the deficit is in the STEM subject areas: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
2. The pace of changes in technology keeps increasing: “The 21st century will see technological change almost a thousand times greater than the changes seen in the 20th century,” according to inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. According to a New York Times column by John Tierney, “After the telephone was introduced more than a century ago, Dr. Kurzweil says, it took 50 years for a quarter of the American population to get one. After the cell phone was introduced, it took only seven years.” Employers will need a competent, trained workforce that can learn quickly and continually adapt to the change demanded by innovations. This is critical to our country’s ability to successfully compete in the world marketplace.
3. Retiring Baby Boomers = retiring expertise: Though the pace of retirement slowed for many Baby Boomers who lost financial ground during the Great Recession, there will be 33 million job openings between 2010 and 2020 due to older workers leaving the workforce. According to Carnevale, “One third of all nurses are over 55 years old. Healthcare is one-fifth of the economy, and these professions require several years of classroom education and several years of on-the-job training to be work-ready.” And that is only one occupational category!
4. Millennials often lack required work characteristics: Young adults between the ages of 18 and 33, the Millennials, may lack the traditional work ethic of older generations. These young people have been characterized as having a sense of entitlement and not wanting to commit the time to building knowledge and skills. They also want a better balance between their work and personal lives, unlike their parents or grandparents.
5. Severe worldwide skill shortage: The U.S. has long been importing talent and exporting jobs in order to meet the needs of the workplace. As economies and manufacturing advance in other countries like China, educated technical workers are choosing to stay in their own country due to premium wages or entrepreneurial opportunity. U.S companies are beginning to bring back manufacturing and other operations that were off shored in the last decade as the cost of doing business in other countries increases, but a lack of qualified workers here presents problems.

What are other middle-skill jobs?: A complete list of jobs considered “middle-skill jobs” can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET website. The occupations are further categorized as “Bright Growth” if there is a sun icon next to the job. This indicates rapid growth, numerous job openings, and/or new and emerging jobs. For additional information on these careers, go to the Occupational Outlook Handbook or CareerOneStop. However, good career decisions always begin with a thorough assessment of natural talents (aptitudes), interests, values, and personality. Once individuals know this information about themselves, it is easier to identify potential career options that will be a good match.

Education and training pathways: There are six career and technical education pathways that educate and train people for these jobs: The most common are associate’s degrees and postsecondary certificates earned at a community college. Industry-based certifications, such as those offered by Microsoft and Cisco Systems.

Often state employment office websites or local unions will have information on apprenticeships. Some employers offer job training, and may participate in a program such as the Training initiative in Illinois. Companies that hire and train employees are eligible for 50% reimbursement of wages during the training period. Finally, the military can be an option for learning technical jobs that translate back to civilian middle-skill jobs. This includes intelligence work, security, police and fire protection, hazardous materials handling, supply chain management, communications technology and accounting, to name just a few of these career areas.

Both adults already in the workforce and students ought to find the growth opportunities for “bright outlook” middle-skill jobs very attractive. The career resources mentioned above are a good place to start to find out the kind of education, training and coursework needed to prepare for particular careers. Know that there will always be a need for strong science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills as a foundation for the jobs of the future, so hard work and discipline will pay off. And since lifelong learning is a characteristic of work today, a middle-skill job can also set the stage for further education and even greater career progress.