The changing economy isn't encouraging. New technologies and
globalization are driving deep-seated change—and no one knows for sure what it
will mean for most Americans. But one thing is certain: The future will put a
premium on technical skill. Educators and employers agree: High school is no
longer enough.
Americans have a host of postsecondary options other than a
four-year degree—associate degrees, occupational certificates, industry
certifications, apprenticeships. Many economists are bullish about the
prospects of what they call "middle-skilled" workers. In coming
years, according to some, at least a third and perhaps closer to half of all
U.S. jobs will require more than high school but less than four years of
college—and most will involve some sort of technical or practical training.
Despite our digital-age prejudices against practical skills,
Americans are quietly reinventing upward mobility. Consider three often
overlooked paths: welder, nurse and franchise manager.
Welder
The first requirement of any upward path is entry ramps at
the ground level. The second requirement
of any good upward path is for training to lead to a job. A third requirement
of a good career path is that it must be aligned with economic needs. Many high
schools and community colleges teach job skills, but too many of them use
outmoded techniques and equipment or steer young people to industries that
aren't growing. The best way to stay current is to partner with an employer,
who can offer advice about what's in demand, help design curricula, lend
equipment, and even provide training.
Training is expensive, and some firms fear that competitors
will poach the workers whom they train. But a growing number of farsighted
companies grasp the mutual benefit.
This is especially true in a trade like welding, where
demand can sometimes seem insatiable. The Bureau of Labor Statistics pegs the
average wage at $36,300 a year, but anecdotal evidence suggests that is the low
end of what's possible. JV Industrial says that it pays more like $75,000, with
some employees earning more than $100,000. In the burgeoning shale industry, in
Texas and Appalachia, welders can earn as much as $7,000 a week.
Nurse
Like construction, nursing is a time-tested path to the
middle class, and it has many of the same hallmarks: easy on-ramps,
goal-oriented job training and a series of ascending steps, with
industry-certified credentials to guide the way.
The profession is already growing robustly. From 2000 to
2010, the number of registered nurses increased by 24%. But the aging of the
baby-boom generation will sharpen demand even as it reduces supply: Roughly a
third of today's nurses are more than 50 years old.
It sounds insidious—a tracked system with RNs earning some
$65,000 year and many licensed practical nurses, or LPNs, starting below
$40,000. But appearances can be deceptive. Alongside the three tiers, there are
myriad ways that different kinds of students can tap into the programs and
transfer among them, building their own upward paths, sometimes over the course
of a lifetime.
Franchise Manager
At first, franchising seems very different from welding and
nursing—no technical skills, no required training, no earned industry
certifications. But in many ways, it is a looser, market-driven version of the
same upward path: Young people start at the bottom of a practical trade and
learn by doing.
The hardest step up the franchising ladder is from
management to ownership. Franchising is the safest way to start a small
business. Though lesser-known brands can pose risks, most outlets open with a
popular product and a proven way of doing business. But it isn't cheap to get
started: The initial purchase fee is rarely less than $100,000 and usually
several times that.
Today's conventional wisdom about economic mobility in the
U.S. is gloomy and growing gloomier. We're told that good jobs are
disappearing, that less educated workers have bad work habits that the U.S. is
falling behind other countries. We are not sure whether the assumption is true
or false. One place to start would be by showing some respect for practical
training. As millions of Americans know, even in a knowledge economy, countless
valuable career skills can be learned outside a college classroom.
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article on The Wall Street Journal.