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North Carolina's healthcare industry has a lack of trained medical workers.
North Carolina’s unemployment rate of 9.5 percent makes unemployment a top priority for most workers and, by extension, politicians. However, the latest budget cuts to education may only aggravate the problem.
Despite the high unemployment rate in North Carolina, 830,000 jobs in North Carolina may be vacant, according to a report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
How can there be 830,000 job openings in a state with an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent? According to the report, the combination of baby boomers retiring and a shortage of trained workers is to blame.
Baby Boomers
Starting in 2011 the oldest members of the baby boom generation turned 65. Although many baby boomers will remain in their jobs past their 65th birthday, this starts a wave of retirements the current workforce is not prepared to fill. This is particularly a problem for jobs that require workers with a higher education than a high school diploma, which according to the Georgetown University report represents three million posts nationwide and 830,000 in North Carolina.
It is rather ironic that an increase in job openings may represent a problem for North Carolina. However the lack of trained workers may force the state to import workers.
Healthcare Jobs
For instance, the healthcare industry is projected to employ 217,000 positions in the next six years. However, medical degree programs are being eliminated or scaled down in North Carolina universities due to budget cuts. To illustrate, the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing reduced its enrollment by a quarter this year in an effort to reduce costs, even though there is a lack of advanced practice nurses in North Carolina.
Healthcare is just one example. Most of the growth industries in North Carolina require workers to have special training or a college degree.
Ironically, the recent recession and the current slow economy may actually be hiding the seriousness of this lack of qualified workers. Many baby boomers have delayed their retirement due to the financial crisis. However, as the economy improves an increasing number of baby boomers in jobs that require advanced qualifications will retire and the number of graduates coming out of North Carolina’s universities is simply not enough to take the slack.
In the meantime, North Carolina’s legislators are reducing education grants and programs for displaced workers who wish to retrain in a high demand industry.
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