Streamlined tech training programs mean workforce shift

More blue collar workers took advantage of time off during the pandemic to explore, secure and attain high-tech, knowledge-based jobs.

The appeal: better pay and schedules, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. More than 10% of Americans in lower-paying roles in warehouses, manufacturing, hospitality and other hourly positions made such a switch during the past two years, according to new research from Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm, shared with the Journal.

Why is this transition taking place, and what are the implications for hiring organizations, individuals and higher education?

Driving the trend is the huge ongoing adaptation of digitalization — and the availability of free or relatively inexpensive training in digital technologies.

The implications are as follows:

For workers. It bodes well for society that the barriers to advancement in the knowledge-based economy are being broken down. It mitigates against the formation of class barriers based on formal education.

For employers. Whether for profit or nonprofit organizations, the new streamlined training programs allows employers to look past four-year degree requirements and instead, at least for some positions, hire for ability, motivation and customer service experience.

Community colleges, with their low tuition and practical focus, ought to be well-positioned to cater to individuals who want a narrowly focused professional digital certification.

But for four-year institutions, already facing demographic challenges, the outlook is potentially catastrophic. The modern college has evolved into an administratively top heavy, fearsomely expensive institution that is substantially relaxant on the availability of student loans.

The return on investment on four-year degrees is increasingly being questioned, as so many of the degrees do not smoothly translate into well-paying jobs.

Things change.

It has only been within the past couple of generations that a college degree became first preferred and then required for professional work. The best universities will survive — and even thrive.