A new study from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce predicts the U.S. economy could produce 55 million job openings in the U.S. economy in the next decade, but the study warns that the country may not have enough properly educated workers to meet that demand.
The 55 million jobs include 24 million new jobs and 31 million from baby boomer retirements.
Many of these positions will be in in fields like healthcare and STEM that require high levels of postsecondary education, according to the study publishers.
The study warns that the U.S. could face a deficit of 5 million workers with postsecondary degrees by 2020 unless major changes are made to postsecondary education.
“If the U.S. Congress can deal with budgetary challenges, we are on schedule for recovery,” said Anthony P. Carnevale, Director of the Center in a statement. “But we will still face a major shortage of college-educated workers especially as baby boomers retire.”
The employers of the future will be looking for "cognitive skills" like leadership, analytics and communication rather than "physically intensive skills" with perhaps the exception of near vision for computer-based work.
The study also examines state-by-state data to predict the types and number of jobs that will be available in 2020.
The District will have a 16 percent growth in jobs between 2010 and 2020, according to the study, increasing from 656,060 to 762,330.
By 2020 the District of Columbia "will have the highest concentration of postsecondary education" jobs in the country, according to the report.
Read the report here: http://cew.georgetown.edu/recovery2020.
Do you think our college and other postsecondary institutions are serving the needs of future workers? What changes would you want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.