Decent entry-level jobs used to require only a high school diploma, but increasingly employers are looking for workers with more sophisticated skills and advanced training.
But there is a mismatch between what employers want and the available talent pool, particularly in the occupations in greatest demand. In some cases, colleges are not offering the right programs.
That”™s according to a report issued by Westchester Community College titled, “Connecting to Promising Careers: Middle-Skill Jobs in the Lower Hudson Valley.”
“We hear it often,” said Tere Wisell, vice president and dean of workforce development and community education at the college in Valhalla. “Employers are not able to sign up the right employees. But we know there are people out there looking for work.”
The report is meant as a kind of road map to identifying the hot jobs and the training that will help workers fill those jobs.
It defines entry-level middle skill occupations as jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor”™s degree. It describes them as gateways to more lucrative occupations.
An estimated 11 to 18 percent of the jobs in the Hudson Valley fall into the middle skill category, and most of them pay at or above the average entry-level wage of $22,340.
Researchers set out to identify three occupational sectors that pay well, are in high demand, offer opportunities for career advancement and yet have a shortage of qualified candidates in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties. Three fields met the criteria: health information management, tech support and hospitality management.
Health care is the region”™s largest sector, accounting for nearly one in seven jobs, and the state Department of Labor projects that these occupations will grow by 25 percent through 2022.
The researchers focused on a subsector, health management, where “hiring demand is strong and appears to have outpaced the supply of workforce and educational programming.”
Those jobs are in hospitals, doctor and dentist offices, health insurance companies and government agencies. An employee can start out as a medical secretary at $31,000 a year or a clerk at $35,000.
After a year or two of experience, employees can begin moving up the ranks. A coder who began as a patient registrar at $34,000 a year could become an inpatient coder at $40,000 and eventually a coding compliance specialist making $65,000. A birth registrar starting out at $32,000 could eventually make $65,000 as manager of specialized cancer programs.
Experience is essential to getting ahead, but at every step along the career path employers require more credentials. The employee must have specific industry certifications, and the higher they go the more likely they will need an associate degree or bachelor”™s degree.
Employers want more than just technical expertise. They want workers with strong customer service know-how. Wisell calls them “employability skills.” These include the ability to communicate well verbally and in writing and the ability to work independently as well as in teams.
Nearly one-fourth of the population in Westchester was Hispanic or Latino in 2014, according to the U.S. Census, and more than 6 percent were Asian. Thus, bilingual workers are in demand.
A number of educational institutions offer training in medical billing and coding. But billing and coding are distinct functions. As a result of the report, Westchester Community College is looking at separating those fields into two programs.
There also is a demand for workers with a registered health information technician associate degree, yet there is no such program in the lower Hudson Valley.
The report highlighted the same kinds of patterns, problems and opportunities in tech support and hospitality management.
A technical network support specialist could begin a career at $39,000 and, with the right credentials and experience, become an $88,000-a-year IT project manager.
A hotel front desk agent making $28,000 could progress to a hotel operations director making $71,000.
Wisell said any educational institution in the region can use the report to adapt its programs. It is particularly applicable to the region”™s community colleges, which are meant to support the needs of the region”™s workforce.
The report says nothing about who pays for the training. Westchester Community College charges about $5,000 a year in tuition and fees, so an associate degree costs about $10,000. “Clearly, we see that as an investment,” Wisell said.
The report was funded by a $150,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Besides the community college, several businesses, business associations, colleges, government agencies and job programs collaborated in the nearly year-long research project. The New York City Labor Market Information Service at City University of New York did the underlying research.
