May 28, 2024
Summary
Los Angeles. Atlanta. Savannah. Pittsburgh. Hundreds of local labor markets fuel the American economy, and each one is driven by the needs of the local area’s mix of industries and the skills of its workers. When these needs and skills align, everyone can benefit. But many local economies are struggling to achieve strong alignment between the demand for middle-skills credentials (certificates and associate’s degrees) and the supply of these credentials produced by local institutions.
The Great Misalignment: Addressing the Mismatch between the Supply of Certificates and Associate’s Degrees and the Future Demand for Workers in 565 US Labor Markets demonstrates that in half of the nation’s labor markets, at least 50 percent of all middle-skills credentials would need to be granted in different fields of study to meet projected labor demand through 2031.
