Realism About Reskilling Upgrading The Career Prospects Of America's Low-Wage Workers via Brookings

Realism About Reskilling

Realism About Reskilling

Upgrading the career prospects of America's low-wage workers

Brookings: 11.07.2010 by Marcela Escobari, Ian Seyal, and Michael J. Meaney

Every person deserves the opportunity for dignified employment that provides living wages and potential for advancement. But for many in America today caught in a cycle of low-wage work, this is far from reality.

Low-wage workers are struggling—and not for a lack of new jobs. The coming flood of innovation will create new tasks and occupations, and the labor market will demand new skills just as quickly as it will shirk others. Robots may be unlikely to wholly replace America’s workers anytime soon, but new technologies will radically displace workers, eliminating jobs in some industries while expanding others.

Policy and company responses have failed to keep pace with this transformation. As the labor market splits into low-wage and high-wage work, lower tier jobs are precarious, marked by unpredictable schedules, reduced benefits, and stagnant wages. While reskilling alone will not be enough to lessen inequality or provide equal opportunity in the face of these trends, it must be an integral part of the solution to support workers without leaving anyone behind.

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WHO ARE AMERICA’S MOST VULNERABLE WORKERS, AND WHAT ARE THEIR PROSPECTS?

An estimated 53 million people—44 percent of all U.S. workers ages 18–64—are low-wage workers. That’s more than twice the number of people in the 10 most populous U.S. cities combined. Their median hourly wage is $10.22, and their median annual earnings are $17,950.

Low-wage work spans gender, race, and geography, but, women and members of racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately likely to be low-wage workers. A Black worker is 32 percent more likely to earn low wages than a white counterpart—that number jumps to 41 percent for Hispanic workers. Altogether, women are 19 percent more likely than men to be low-wage workers.

Low-wage workers switch jobs most frequently but are more likely to churn within a set of low-wage occupations. Workers in the lowest wage quintile have the highest likelihood to switch into another low paying job. Workers in the second lowest quintile have a 55% chance to remain or move downward, and even those in the middle quintile are more likely to move to a lower wage group than a higher one.

Certain occupations are likelier to lead to higher wages. Our near-term mobility index estimates whether workers departing an occupation are likely to see higher wages. For instance, telemarketers tend to transition to a much higher paid job, compared to cooks or housekeepers. Cleaners, cooks and hairdressers, are the most vulnerable; their occupations pay low wages and offer little opportunity for advancement.  READ MORE >>

Literacy Reports & Statistics

Workplace

2019: Global Skills Index, Coursera

2019: Realism About Reskilling - Upgrading the career prospects of America's low-wage workers, Brookings

2018: A Stronger Nation: Learning beyond high school builds American talent, Lumina

2017: UpSkilling Playbook for Employers, Aspen Institute

2015: Skills Gap Report, NAM-MI

2010: Literacy & The Entry-Level Workforce - The Role of Literacy and Policy in Labor Market Success,

 Employment Policies Institute

2008: Reach Higher America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce, NCAL

2007: America’s Perfect Storm, ETS

2007: Can California Import Enough College Grad's. Meet Workforce Needs?, PPIC

2007: Mounting Pressures: Workforce . . . Adult Ed, NCAL