(Virginia News Service) Economic opportunities will favor workers with higher levels of education, according to a new report.

Researchers found 85 percent of good jobs will go to people with bachelor's degrees or other forms of postsecondary training by 2031.

Artem Gulish, senior federal policy adviser for the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce and the report's author, said even traditional blue-collar work, such as construction, will increasingly require apprenticeships or courses in fields like machinery and tech.

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"While those jobs are going to be growing in part because of the infrastructure investments that the federal government and state governments have been making in recent years, those opportunities are going to be shifting to mental skills," Gulish pointed out.

Gulish noted a good job pays a minimum of $43,000 a year for workers between ages 25 and 44. He said over time it will be more challenging for those with only high school degrees to earn the same salary. About 40 percent of Virginia residents have a bachelor's degree or higher, which ranks it in the top 10 states in the country.

In general, college enrollment of young people is actually declining, especially among men. Gulish acknowledged the future labor market is not set in stone, especially as technologies such as artificial intelligence keep evolving. But having a postsecondary degree will often make you more employable.

"We see that the future is not going to look like the present," Gulish emphasized. "Having that ability to adapt and learn and upskill and re-skill and pick up new skills will definitely be beneficial."

Georgetown's report found there will be more good jobs on the market by 2031 compared to now, partly because policymakers are facing pressure to deliver higher job quality rather than just lower unemployment.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.