Author: Matías D. Scaglione

June 2018, 47 pp.

Abstract: This paper presents a new approach to identifying relatively skilled occupations that do not typically require a bachelor’s degree for entry. I call this group of occupations Skilled Non-College Occupations (SNCOs). The proposed approach relies heavily on a new skills index based on data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. In contrast with studies that estimate that employment in so-called middle-skill jobs in the U.S. represents one third to nearly a half of total employment, this study estimates that the combined employment of SNCOs accounted for 16.2% of all jobs in 2016. Exploratory analysis shows that SNCOs

• represent only one in five jobs that do not require a 4-year college degree for entry;
• encompass a wide variety of occupations and industries, even though they are highly concentrated in a relatively small number of them;
• usually pay above-average wages;
• show a quite low correlation between wages and the skills scores; and
• include a significant proportion of workers who are potentially underemployed in terms of their level of educational attainment.

Keywords: occupations, skills, educational attainment, employment, wages, middle-skill jobs

Read the full working paper: Skilled Non-College Occupations in the U.S. (PDF)