Feature Story

December 20, 2007

Future Jobs Much Like Current Jobs

From Economic Policy Institute:

There are many claims that the skills and education of the workforce are not sufficient to meet the needs of the jobs of the future.

The projected occupational structure in 2016 dictates that 28.7% of employees have a college degree or more at that time, a rise of just 1 percentage point over the next 10 years (see Chart).

Given that 30% of the workforce already has a college degree or more and that education levels will continue to increase, it does not seem that there is any gross inadequacy of workforce education, to say the least, relative to the jobs being created.

On the other hand, there are clear issues of a lack of opportunity of lower- and middle-income students having access to and completing a college education.

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