American Diploma Project Network Webinar:
The Economic Case for Postsecondary Education &
Training
October 10, 2012
The Future of the U.S. Workforce
Common Core State Standards & Career and Technical
Education: Bridging the Divide between College and Career
Readiness
The Future of the U.S. Workforce: Middle Skills Jobs and the
Growing Importance of Postsecondary Education
The Future of the U.S. Workforce: The Limited Career
Prospects for High School Graduates Without Additional
Education and Training
The Future of the U.S. Workforce: A Survey of Hiring Practices
Across Industries
www.achieve.org/career-readiness
The Future of the U.S. Workforce: Middle
Skills Jobs and the Growing Importance of
Postsecondary Education
Commissioned research to: Summarize and synthesize that research to
help policymakers and advocates understand the research base and its
connection to college- and career-ready reforms.
The report:
Lays out the various definitions/constructs of “middle skills”
Provides information on current and future employee demands,
including state- and industry-specific information
Explores the pervasiveness of the “skills mismatch”
Describes the various pathways to middle skills jobs
Makes the connection between middle skills jobs and access to the
middle class
Offers recommendations to address middle skills jobs demand
The Future of the U.S. Workforce: The Limited
Career Prospects for High School Graduates
Without Additional Education and Training
Commissioned new, original research to answer the question:
What are the career prospects for individuals with only a high school
diploma or less? Is education beyond high school really necessary to
ensure a middle class lifestyle, a good living wage and career
advancement opportunities?
There are a good proportion of jobs that require only a high
school diploma or less, BUT
They typically pay less;
Offer fewer opportunities for advancement and leadership; and
Require far fewer skills than middle skills jobs, suggesting
individuals really do need additional education/ training across
skills areas to advance.
The Future of the U.S. Workforce: A Survey of
Hiring Practices Across Industries
Commissioned new, original research with SHRM to answer the
question: What is the impact of the “skills mismatch” on hiring
practices?
The survey found:
Every industry was hiring in 2011, with over 95% of
respondents saying they had open positions in 2011.
All industries are projecting that future jobs will require more
skills, education and credentials at all levels.
Opportunities do still exist for low skills workers, but there is
reason to suspect these opportunities will shrink in the future.
SHRM Survey Findings:
Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements
In collaboration with and commissioned by Achieve
October 3, 2012
Methodology
• The following nine industries were included in the sample.
Construction, mining, oil and gas
Federal government
Finance
Health
High-tech
Manufacturing
Professional services
State and local government
Nonprofessional services
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Minimum Education Requirements
©SHRM 2012
7
SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and
Education Requirements
In collaboration with and commissioned by Achieve
Survey Methodology
• Response rate = 18%
• 4,695 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of nine different
industries in SHRM’s membership
 Construction, mining, oil and gas = 491
 Federal government = 356
 Finance = 530
 Health = 526
 High-tech = 447
 Manufacturing = 526
 Professional services = 492
 State and local government = 848
 Non-professional services = 479
• Margin of error +/-1%
• Survey fielded March 28-April 30, 2012
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Minimum Education Requirements
©SHRM 2012
8
Skills shortages and recruiting difficulty
• SHRM research has recently shown that despite weak
economic conditions our members are reporting:
• Skills shortages in many industries (Ongoing Impact of the
Recession Survey series) and
• Recruiting difficulty (monthly LINE survey)
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Minimum Education Requirements
©SHRM 2012
9
Key Findings
•
A few industries do still offer a few jobs with no minimum education requirements:
nonprofessional services (21%), construction, mining, oil and gas (19%), and manufacturing
(12%). However, in all other industries, fewer than 10% of job openings in 2011 had no minimum
educational requirements (see slide 15).
•
Even lower-skilled jobs are likely to have minimum education requirements, with 71% of
organizations forecasting a requirement for a high school diploma and 7% expecting a specific
post-secondary certificate/credential or an associate’s degree for such jobs.
•
Organizations across all industries are projecting that future jobs at all levels will require more
skills, education and credentials/certifications.
•
Only a small percentage of organizations’ training budgets are dedicated to remedial
education (a median of 1% and a mean of 7% across industries and organization sizes). The
majority (81%) of employees are trained on-site, followed by employer-provided off-site training
(57%) and technical or community colleges (44%).
•
Organizations across industries are most likely to report an increased need for bachelor’s
degree holders (55%), advance degree holders (41%) and specific postsecondary
certificates/credentials (32%).
•
Organizations in most industries project future education requirements for salaried individual
contributors and professional jobs to level off at the bachelor’s degree level (71%), with only 5%
forecasting requirements for advanced degrees for these types of jobs. The federal government
is slightly more likely than other industries to project a need for advanced degrees in these jobs
(13%).
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Minimum Education Requirements
©SHRM 2012
10
Further study
•
SHRM benefits research shows a trend away from educational
reimbursement. How will this impact educational attainment of workers?
•
Most training is done in-house currently. Will this change as skills and
education needs rise?
•
Overall what are HR professionals and businesses doing to deal with skills
shortages in their communities? What is working?
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Education Levels of Today’s Workforce
©SHRM 2012
11
SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills
and Education Requirements
About SHRM Research
• For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys
• For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research
Services, visit www.shrm.org/customizedresearch
• Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Minimum Education Requirements
©SHRM 2012
12
SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and
Education Requirements—Post-secondary
Certificates/Credentials
Demographics
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics
©SHRM 2012
13
Demographics: Organization Industry
n = 4,642
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials
and Demographics
©SHRM 2012
14
Demographics: Organization Sector
n = 3,439
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials
and Demographics
©SHRM 2012
15
Demographics: Organization Staff Size
Note: n = 3,335. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials
and Demographics
©SHRM 2012
16
Demographics: Other
Does your organization have U.S.-based
operations (business units) only or does it
operate multinationally?
Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multiunit organization?
U.S.-based operations only
75%
Single-unit organization: An organization in which
the location and the organization are one and the
same
Multinational operations
25%
Multi-unit organization: An organization that has
more than one location
70%
n = 3,451
n = 3,446
What is the HR department/function you
responded for throughout this survey?
Corporate (company wide)
69%
Business unit/division
17%
Facility/location
14%
n = 2,465
30%
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices
determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work
location or both?
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and
practices
53%
Each work location determines HR policies and
practices
2%
A combination of both the work location and the
multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and
practices
44%
Note: n = 2,460. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials
and Demographics
©SHRM 2012
17
The Future of the U.S. Workforce: Middle Skills
Jobs and the Growing Importance of
Postsecondary Education
The Future of the U.S. Workforce: The Limited
Career Prospects for High School Graduates
Without Additional Education and Training
18
Jobs by Skill Level
High skills--at least a bachelor’s degree, considerable skill and
preparation
Middle skills--more education and training than a high school
diploma, not a bachelor’s degree
Low skills--no more than a high school diploma
Methodology
Literature review with a focus on middle skills jobs
Analysis with a focus on low skills jobs using data from
Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data
About O*NET
Information on over 900 occupations including:
skills and education requirements
tasks and work activities
work context
work styles
related occupation
wages and employment
occupational outlook
Based on questionnaires and data from other agencies
Analysis used largely wage (incorporating BLS data), potential for
advancement, and job recognition/prestige information
Findings
Jobs requiring education beyond high school will make up the
largest proportion of available jobs, but according to current
projections, there will be a shortage in the number of workers
need to fill those jobs.
Workers holding jobs that require no more than a high school
diploma (low skills jobs) have lower earnings potential, career
advancement potential, and prestige.
Significant skill requirement gap between low and middle skills
occupations, and workers in low skills occupations not likely
to be exposed to clear pathways to bridge those gaps and earn
those skills.
Questions that Remain to be
Answered
What are the characteristics of individuals in low skills
occupations? Are these jobs supplemental or primary?
What are the factors that lead to an individual staying in a low
skills occupation? How can pathways be opened to help
individuals be promoted to middle and high skills occupations?
What are the most effective programs and pathways for advancing
out of low skills occupations?
What are the most effective ways of ensuring that the demand for
middle skills workers will be met?
Questions?
All three reports can be found at:
www.achieve.org/career-readiness
For more information, contact:
Kate Blosveren (kblosveren@achieve.org)
Jennifer Schramm (Jennifer.Schramm@shrm.org)
Alli Bell (allison.catelyn@gmail.com)
24
American Diploma Project Network Webinar:
The Economic Case for Postsecondary Education &
Training
October 10, 2012