About two-thirds of the projected employment growth was in occupations requiring only a high school diploma, or no educational credential at all to get started in the field, the researchers concluded. (A graphic in the report shows mistaken figures.)
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis of projections for 2014 through 2024 that, unlike the extension study, included all occupations, found less-discouraging results. But stacked against the country as a whole, Wisconsin didn’t fare particularly well.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 49% of the job growth nationwide through 2024 will come in occupations that typically require people entering the field to have education beyond high school.
The comparable figure for Wisconsin: 40%.
Similarly, 34% of jobs here are projected to be in occupations that typically don’t even require a high school diploma to enter, compared with 29% nationwide.
Wisconsin will have so many job openings requiring a high school diploma or less that the state won’t have enough appropriately skilled workers to fill them, the extension researchers say.
On the other hand, they say, the number of college-educated workers will exceed the number of jobs typically requiring a degree.