To thwart that tendency, IBM began using the term “new-collar workers” to signal respect for workers who do not have a college diploma but are just as talented and capable as their degreed counterparts. We three have long been deeply compelled by questions about how companies find, treat, and support the employees who are at the core of any business. Colleen directs Harvard Business School’s Race, Gender & Equity (RGE) Initiative, which aims to eradicate racial and gender-based disparities and other forms of inequality in organizations and society at large. Boris has been researching and teaching about effective hiring and retention, and about managing for diversity, equity, and inclusion, for more than 20 years, and he is a faculty affiliate at the RGE Initiative.
- The program has trained millions of apprentices over the past 75 years using an « earn-and-learn » model that combines work-based learning with classroom instruction.
- According to research from LinkedIn, the most sought-after skills by U.S. employers last year were all in the tech space, and several of those skills didn’t necessarily require formal education.
- Apprenticeship USAA national system of on-the-job training that involves a network of more than 150,000 employers representing more than 1,000 occupations.
- Blue-collar describes the denim, overalls or boiler suits worn by these workers.
- For blue-collar employers searching for employees, two main factors are complicating their search.
A 2018 report by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute projected that between 2018 and 2028, there could be as many as 2.4 million unfilled manufacturing jobs. That labor shortage, the report said, would have an estimated $2.5 trillion negative economic impact in the U.S. We will be tracking which stakeholders are providing these skill-building opportunities and developing innovative solutions to close blue-collar hiring gaps. We encourage you to do the same and welcome the opportunity to help you navigate these dynamics to support your growth and investment strategies. A skills-first approach will yield the greatest benefit if organizations extend it beyond hiring and make it core to how they think about cultivating and retaining talent. Remember to factor in all of your skills and abilities when considering your options and deciding on a path for the future.
Blue Collar vs. White Collar
All these problems could be alleviated, the authors say, if employers focused on job candidates’ skills instead of their degree status. New-collar jobs don’t require a degree, but they do require specialized skills and training. So, these aren’t the kinds of positions you can apply for right away, unless you already have the required knowledge. New-collar jobs offer job security and high pay and require skills and training, but not necessarily a bachelor’s degree. If you’re considering a career change, you might want to think about one of these occupations.
What does anyone need to have for most white-collar jobs?
Many white-collar jobs require a significant amount of education, training, and experience. Management-level positions may require additional credentials such as an MBA, CPA, or CFA. Professions like doctors or lawyers require additional schooling.
We have highlighted below one established company and three emerging providers as illustrative examples of how opportunities in this blue-collar environment are evolving. By and large, America believes the best path to prestige and financial reward is through a white-collar job. This dynamic leaves blue-collar industries facing serious perception challenges. In addition to Americans getting older and leaving work behind, this image problem continues to widen the blue-collar hiring gap.
A Skills-First Future
They presented their best practices on “Learning That Works” at the AME Dallas 2022 international conference. Capable employees are out there, sometimes with a sight line to a satisfying, well-paid job but often with no realistic way to get there. Cleveland Clinic, for example, worked with the diversity-strategy https://accounting-services.net/bookkeeping-oklahoma/ firm Grads of Life to analyze more than 400 roles, representing 20,000 total jobs, and then revised degree and credential requirements to remove unnecessary qualifications. The effort was so successful that the clinic expanded its skills analysis to thousands of additional roles.
If you’re familiar with IBM, the company emerged as a technology pioneer in the 1960s in Endicott, N.Y., a small town in Upstate New York. Endicott is located approximately three hours outside of New York City, and its claim to fame is being the home of the glory years of IBM. Every two years, the Association for Manufacturing Technology coordinates the International Manufacturing Technology show. What the association reported at one recent show, King said, was that for every job that technology replaces, five more are created.
Partnering to Close the Skills Gap
These are challenging times for the school staff and parents who are working with schools to ensure the next generation of students will graduate to be skilled, career- and college-ready citizens. The COVID-19 pandemic forced schools across the country to close and impacted the learning of students. The 2022 NAEP results and graduation rates show the impacts of the disruption in learning. We have evidence-based, effective solutions that can be implemented to begin reversing the negative trends and gaps that the pandemic exacerbated. One strategy to improve student outcomes is to prepare students for emerging new-collar jobs.
Most blue-collar workers must perform jobs on-site, which leads to a discussion about which jobs society considers essential and which are not. Jobs are plentiful for these technicians who provide network, software, and hardware support for private companies, non-profits, and government offices. The « new-collar » movement provides employers looking to fill hard-to-fill job openings with the opportunity to rethink how they recruit the types of workers they need. This free, federally funded education and vocational training program administered by the U.S.
The Chicago Apprentice Network, which Aon formed in 2017 with Accenture and the insurance company Zurich North America, has grown to include more than 90 companies that understand the merits of an apprenticeship approach. A skills-first culture is also about understanding what workers need to be successful and achieve their full potential. For instance, Merck realized that for the primarily Black Philadelphia residents whom it wanted to hire, commuting via public transportation to its manufacturing facility in suburban West Point was challenging and probably unsustainable.
LaborWorx prides itself on being one of the first labor marketplaces created for skilled workers by skilled workers. Their platform connects understaffed companies with certified candidates based on skill, location, rate, The Rise of the No Collar Job: What Schools Need to Know and availability. When we’ve talked to chief executives at companies leaning in to skills-first talent management, all have echoed the need to elevate and legitimize what is essentially a cultural transformation.
Membership in the white-collar workforce often came with assumptions about higher levels of education and earning potential, but this may no longer be the case with the rise of new-collar jobs. Exploring career choices in high school is vital in helping students prepare for their future. When opting for a traditional college education geared toward a specific career choice, high school grades and activities weigh heavily in college admissions. If a new-collar job is the student’s goal, the search for the right fit and the best vocational or technical school for that career choice should start early.
They’re getting on-the-job training in software and automation, CAD design, robot maintenance, 3D printer repair, and collecting and analyzing data. And the surprising thing is that not all these positions require advanced education. Companies that use the bachelor’s degree as a filter when filling positions that don’t require it are hiring inefficiently. They’re also overlooking workers they desperately need, particularly in growing fields such as tech, where the demand for people with specialized skills far outstrips the supply. At a time when many employers are struggling to fill vacancies and retain their current workforce, a gatekeeping mechanism with no proven benefit creates a competitive disadvantage. Today the educational requirements for some white-collar jobs no longer exist as online training becomes more prevalent.