California's Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs

October 20, 2009

 

Dan Walters: California's economic rebound could be retarded unless the state does a better job of training "middle-skill" workers, those with post-high school training but not college degrees, according to a new report by a labor-management coalition. 

 

The "Skills2Compete" organization includes both major employer and union groups and its report, entitled "California's Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs," says that nearly half of California's jobs now fall into that category, and with economic growth and Baby Boomer retirements, the state will need some 2.7 million additional workers in middle-skill fields by 2016, with carpenters the largest single category.

 

The report is ammunition for a long-running debate in California over whether it places too much emphasis on college preparation in its high schools and denigrates vocational education, leading to worker shortages and high dropout rates. The report says California community colleges are the largest higher education system in the world, serving more than 2.9 million students each year.

 

Community colleges play an important role in training middle-skill workers.   The report recommends that the state will keep from further cutting funding for community colleges, which provide a lot of this training.

 

• Full Document HERE
  
  
• Growing California’s Economy by Investing in the Forgotten Middle