While work for people with high school degrees or less can still be found, more jobs in the United States are going to those with some college education or a degree. A report by Georgetown University revealed a stunning trend after the 2008-2009 recession:  over more than 95 percent of the jobs created during the recovery went to individuals with at least some college or post-secondary education (11.5 million out of 11.6 million).  "While jobs are back, they are not the same jobs lost during the recession," states the University's Center on Education and the Workforce. 

 

What happened exactly? According to the report, America's Divided Recovery: College Haves and Have-Nots , the recession hit manufacturing and construction particularly hard and those industries hired high school educated individuals. Manufacturing had already been declining for a long time and the recession was another blow. Neither industry has yet returned to where it was before in terms of hiring levels. Office and administrative support positions also disappeared at an alarming rate.

 

Does this mean if you love being an administrative assistant or building houses, you're out of luck? Not necessarily, but it could mean you will have more competition so you'll need to be well trained and come across as a stellar candidate.   

 

Some bright spots for those who have not gone beyond high school are in the service economy that continues to thrive. Food preparation, transportation, and repair and maintenance jobs all grew substantially after the recession; the hospitality industry alone created 1.5 million jobs, though these jobs are often low paying.

 

The New Jobs Created

If wearing scrubs or fixing laptops is not your thing, that's fine, there are plenty of other choices. Talk to someone at the Alexandria Workforce Development Center (WDC) about what type of training is available or go to a workshop to get help with your resume. 

 

The bottom line? Keep an eye on what's happening in the field you work in or want to work in, keep your skills and resume sharp, and be willing to consider new possibilities - they are being created all the time! (Just think: How many people needed someone to fix their iPhone 10 years ago vs. now?)