New report assesses alignment of higher education with workforce demands
The Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) has released the 2023 Washington State Higher Education and Labor Market (HELM)?report, an educational needs assessment prepared in collaboration with the State Board for Community & Technical Colleges, Workforce Training & Education Coordinating Board, and Association of Washington Business. The HELM report replaces the biennial Skilled and Educated Workforce report, with a new format and new elements, including regional outlooks in addition to the statewide overview.
The report has four primary purposes: 1) to assess how well the state?s postsecondary education system is aligned with the demands of the labor market, (2) to identify key drivers of employer demand in various occupational clusters, (3) to highlight industries and occupational fields in which students and adult learners may find expanding employment opportunities, and (4) to explore factors, such as the advance of workplace automation, that are impacting the labor market.
Key findings in this year?s report include:
- Washington is ranked 5th among the top states for share of jobs requiring postsecondary education.
- Labor market demand for skilled workers with postsecondary credentials remains strong and is rising at all education levels, including midlevel, baccalaureate, and graduate.?
- Over the next several years, jobs in fields that require more educated workers are projected to grow at a faster rate than those that require less education. Currently 70 percent of jobs require some form of postsecondary credential, but this is projected to increase to 72 percent over the next several years.
- Washington?s education attainment levels exceed the national averages in all postsecondary categories but still fall short of meeting employer demand for educated workers in key fields.
- The advance of artificial Intelligence and automation is changing the labor market landscape. Jobs at high risk of automation tend to be those that require less education. Jobs currently at low risk of being replaced by automation are nevertheless likely to be exposed to automation by the advance of generative artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, which may fundamentally change the way they approach their work.
Read the full 2023 HELM report on the WSAC website.
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