We’ve known for years that America has a skilled-job training crisis – with crucial, good paying jobs in public service, data analysis, and technology going unfilled because employers can’t find qualified workers to hire.
A new report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce applied up-to-date numbers to show just how vast the shortage is to fill skilled jobs. .
“Nationwide,” the report says, “there is an annual shortage of nearly 712,000 certificates and associate’s degrees aligned with high-paying middle-skills occupations, projected to last until at least 2032.”
“Credential shortages are troubling because the U.S. is in dire need of qualified workers to keep our infrastructure intact, our communities safe, and our industries at the forefront of innovation,” said Emma Nyhof McLeod, the study’s lead author.
While employers and policymakers are left with the challenges and urgency to address the shortage, there is good news for workers. . People who set their sights on earning the right certification and skills to qualify for in-demand positions, can earn annual salaries exceeding $55,000 for many beginning workers and $83,000 by mid-career.
This means opportunity for workers willing to gain new skills. Even qualified workers who end up in lower paid positions “still earn more than those in lower-paying occupations without relevant credentials.”
“Increasing the number of work-based learning opportunities, providing integrated academic
and career support services, and addressing biases in hiring and promotion are necessary to clear the pathway to opportunity in high-paying middle-skills occupations,” said Jeff Strohl, report co-author and Georgetown Center on Education and Workforce Director.
To solve this problem and get more workers qualified for skilled jobs and into the roles where they’re needed, the Georgetown report recommends:
- Expanding work-based learning opportunities
- Providing integrated academic and career support services
- Addressing hiring and promotion biases to create clearer pathways to high-paying middle-skills occupations.
Calbright Prepares Students for Skilled Jobs
In California, Calbright College is already taking those steps with an innovative approach to education and job skills training that re-imagines adult higher education from top to bottom.
Calbright is a free online community college offering certificates in skills that employers are looking for, like Data Analysis, Project Management, IT support, Cybersecurity, Human Resources, and more. The College accepts all Californians over the age of 18 with a high school diploma or equivalent who apply – we are open and accessible to everyone.
Calbright’s online classes are flexibly paced so that working adults, parents, and people with family and community responsibilities can study on their own schedules. While all programs are designed to be completed in under a year – and sometimes much sooner – students can set their own pace, going as quickly as they want and as slowly as they need.
Calbright also connects its students with robust career support, including networking, resume building, practice interviews, access to job boards, and even opportunities for paid internships and apprenticeships. The classes give students the skills they need to succeed in their new jobs, and career support helps them find jobs that work for them.
Calbright is also part of a growing movement emphasizing skill-based hiring, so that qualified employees can be hired whether or not they have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Businesses and employees say this skills-based hiring approach is working for them.
Employers at the state and local level need to fill hundreds of thousands of good jobs each year – California alone has millions of workers who feel stranded and are looking for better careers. By reinventing higher education to make it accessible for adults, and helping them train for the skilled jobs they want, Calbright is proving that addressing the skilled worker shortage is a solvable problem – and that solving it benefits everyone.
