Click play to listen to this article.

(West Virginia News Service) As the economy continues to struggle with inflation and ongoing fears of a potential recession, a new report found the nation's labor market will add more good jobs in the next decade.

Skilled trades will offer solid career pathways and are even more promising due to massive public and corporate investment in infrastructure and the transition to green energy.

Image

Artem Gulish, senior federal policy adviser in the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University and co-author of the report, said most good jobs will require bachelor's degrees or specialized credentials.

"Sixty-six percent of good jobs will go to workers with a bachelor's degree or higher, and 15 percent will go to workers with a high school diploma or less," Gulish reported.

A good job is defined as paying at least $43,000 a year and a median annual salary of $74,000 for workers age 25 to 44. West Virginia is among five states with the greatest expected share of jobs for workers with a high school diploma or less, according to data from the Center.

The mass exit of baby boomers from the workforce and artificial intelligence in the coming decade will cause shifts in many sectors of the economy. Gulish pointed out blue-collar jobs such as construction, health care, maintenance and repair will increasingly require postsecondary training.

"Those jobs are increasingly going to be shifting to middle-skills workers with more specialized skills," Gulish emphasized.

The report also pointed to job quality beyond salary in the future jobs landscape, including access to health care plans and retirement benefits. The data show 89 percent of workers in the highest wage bracket have access to health care plans and retirement benefits, compared with only 30 percent of workers in the lowest bracket. Flexible work schedules and access to wellness programs are more common among in higher-income jobs.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.