The need for career and technical education beyond high school

Washington state employers are in need of people with mid-level credentials--particularly in high demand areas such as health care and construction. Typically, these career-focused credentials require one to two years of education and training beyond high school.

In a survey of Washington employers conducted in 2007, 14 percent of all employers had difficulty finding qualified applicants with a career and technical education degree and 18 percent struggled with hiring someone with a vocational certificate – up from 9 percent for each category in 2005.

Over 30 percent of employers, almost double the percentage from 2005, had lower overall productivity as result of not finding enough qualified applicants.

Job openings for new workers in Washington who have  between one and four years of post-high school education or training is expected to reach 33,855 by 2018. This means Washington will need to increase its number of education and training program completers by 9,400 per year to keep up with this demand for mid-level skilled workers.

For more information about career and technical education opportunities, see: http://www.wtb.wa.gov/Info_Students.asp