The blue collar road to a well-paying “good job” is not a dead end, but more of a route “under construction” with some slight detours, according to a new study and website from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW). And at the end of this road are 30 million jobs with median salaries around $55,000 for people without Bachelor’s degrees. That’s more than a livable wage in many U.S. states.
Screenshot of GoodJobsData.org via the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
With support from JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s “New Skills at Work” initiative, CEW launched its “Good Jobs Data” website this month with an accompanying report and informative video on its findings which you can watch above. RELATED STORY: To combat employment crisis, JPMorgan & Chase Co. expands its successful mentorship program. What does a “good job” for the 75 million high school-educated-only workforce entail anymore? CEW says that a good job begins with a $35,000 base salary which turns out to be $17 an hour. Of these 30 million good jobs out there, 14 million of them can earn workers between $35K and $55K.
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analysis of Current Population Survey Annual Social and
Economic Supplement (March), 1992-2016.
Many of these good jobs are now being found in growth sectors in finance and healthcare, reflecting the rise of middle-skill work requiring some college or technical certification. CEW reports that the number of good jobs decreased for high school-only workers but the number of good jobs requiring an Associate’s degree increased by 83 percent. As the nation’s workforce adapts to pressures brought on by structural unemployment by re-skilling for good jobs, it has turned out to be a boon for the current low unemployment economy. CEW says that “skilled-service” jobs have surpassed the amount of lost “good jobs” in dominant employment sectors like manufacturing and transportation. Since 1991, these industries have experienced a loss of around 3 million jobs, due to increased automation and offshoring. What the study found was that skilled-services employment netted 4 million good jobs in that time.
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analysis of Current Population Survey Annual Social and
Economic Supplement (March), 1992-2016.
To maintain this growth, CEW says changing education, especially at the community college level, is paramount. They recommend that post-secondary education must match the demands of the job market. In California, where a majority of “good jobs” are found, the community college system is reinventing itself as a regionally-aligned workforce creator to boost the amount of skilled workers by 1 million. RELATED STORY: WorkingNation founder and CEO Art Bilger says community colleges offer best solutions for job training. So despite losses in good jobs available to workers with just a high school degree, CEW says that there is plenty to be optimistic about. With a little bit of education, American workers have shown that they can still attain good jobs in the new economy and get paid, all without acquiring a BA. Keeping this good news going will be the challenge for policymakers, educators and employers to face together. Join the Discussion: Tell us what you think about The Georgetown Center’s report on good jobs on our Facebook page.

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.