Employment Picture Improves for Community College Grads

Many job seekers may find that having a degree from a two year college is actually quite valuable, even possibly more valuable than a four-year college degree. The employment levels for individuals in America who have a degree from a two-year college or have some college experience has greatly increased over the past six months, reaching a total of 35.2 million. Payroll for individuals who have a bachelor’s degree has increased by a total of 314,000 as well. This information was provided by figures from the Labor Department.

This current trend provides insight on the fact that a number of jobs, particularly those that require mid-skill, are reappearing after having disappeared during the recession. This also means that job growth is, in fact, occurring for a number of different occupations. Certain positions, including repairing positions of heating and air conditioners, along with x-ray technicians and other specialists, seem to be coming back after having disappeared when the economy was at its worst during the recession.

The head for the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, Anthony Carnevale, has said, “The share of these jobs has not grown (sharply) relative to (those requiring a bachelor’s).” He also said, “But they may have begun to do that.” Employment for those who have a high school diploma or less than that has recently become stagnant after having plummeted downward back in 2010, shortly after the recession came to an end.

The recession began several years ago and when it started, a number of mid-skill positions ended up being eliminated, putting tons of people out of work, even those who had specific degrees from a college. As the recovery began to take place in 2010 and in 2011, the payroll for college graduates attending a four-year college had increased much faster than those who were attending a community college instead. This, however, was typical of the recession pattern. During any recession, employers tend to lay off workers who have less experience than others.

During the recovery process, these same employers tend to hire workers with more skills. These individuals end up becoming managers and in that case, more jobs are available for the community college graduates who have attended two years of college instead of four. When this occurs, it is a sure sign that the recovery is ongoing and even though it is a process, improvements are being made for the economy. The trend also shows that the demand for workers who can easily be trained can end up occurring quite fast.