Towards a more prosperous Springfield, MA: what jobs exist for people without a college education?

Benton, Marques; Browne, Lynn E.; Chakrabarti, Prabal; Green, DeAnna; Kodrzycki, Yolanda; Munoz, Ana Patricia; Plasse, David; Walker, Richard; Zhao, Bo

Discussion Paper

Towards a more prosperous Springfield, MA: what jobs exist for people without a college education?

Abstract: This paper analyzes projections of Massachusetts employment opportunities by occupation to address concerns about a shortage of jobs for those who lack a college education. While occupations requiring a college degree will grow more rapidly over the period 2006-2016 than occupations that do not require college, replacement needs will ensure large numbers of job openings that do not require college. Wage levels in jobs that do not require college are generally low, however. The exceptions usually require meaningful training of another sort, such as long-term on-the-job training or courses in postsecondary schools or community college. Additionally, some individuals who demonstrate the necessary qualities achieve higher wages through promotion. The distribution of occupations in the Springfield metropolitan area is sufficiently similar to that in Massachusetts that inferences from the Massachusetts projections should be relevant to Springfield.

Keywords: Cities and towns - Massachusetts; Labor market - Massachusetts;