Lisa Maccone of Manalapan has been working with the career center to obtain a grant to attend school. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR Despite headlines that pit man against machine, the automation of the workplace might not pose the largest threat to the labor force, according to one expert.
Of the five American occupations that are projected to grow the most by 2022, four generated annual median salaries of about $20,000 in 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The positions include two types of health aides, retail salespersons, and food-preparation and fast-food workers, according to the bureau.
“If you think about what the impact has been on the workforce and the economy, it’s not automation. It’s the expansion of low-quality jobs,” said Harold Salzman, a Rutgers University professor of public policy and a senior fellow at the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development.
He pointed to megachains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which employed 1.3 million people and raked in more than $274 billion in net sales last year in America, according to the company. But multiple reports on locations in several states claim that store personnel earn poor hourly wages and few benefits, and often rely on public assistance.
Low-quality gigs affect workers and the economy alike, Salzman said.
“When people have more income, they spend more,” he said, adding that New Jersey’s recent minimum wage hike — from $7.25 to $8.25 an hour — should help to fatten the wallets of the poor and ultimately benefit the economy.
Brian Murray, a spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development (LWD), did not comment on the effects of the increase, but said advocates and employers loudly debated the measure before it was approved. “The law [went] into effect, and all we do is … make sure the law is followed,” Murray said.
The jobs that are expected to spike in the Garden State by 2020 mirror the national outlook. But several high-end occupations with small employment bases are also slated to grow, according to data gathered by the LWD. Top contenders include software developers, computer-systems analysts, construction workers and skilled carpenters.
Seven career clusters, including lucrative industries like bio-pharma and technology, are the backbone of the state, according to Aaron Fichtner, LWD deputy commissioner. The state sometimes partners with community colleges to fill these in-demand positions, he said.
The real challenge for New Jersey will be to reel in more profitable jobs for a greater number of college graduates, who have increasingly been forced to take on inferior positions, Salzman said.
“With all the education problems we have, we don’t have a problem with supplying enough college-educated people for what the labor force demands,” he said.
And, along with government incentives, a widely educated population has a big hand in drawing top businesses to an area, he said.