Lack of Graduates Could Limit Health Care Work Force
California is unlikely to attract the additional 160,000 college graduates it will need by 2025 to fill an imminent shortage of health care professionals and other skilled workers, according to a study released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California, the Los Angeles Times reports (Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 5/24). In fact, health care and education will be two of the most important growth industries in the future, the study found.
The researchers say California no longer can depend on foreign-born workers moving to California to fill jobs, nor can it rely on the domestic migration of workers from other states.
The study concludes that the state should focus on increasing the number of California residents obtaining college degrees and staying instate to work.
Deborah Reed, co-author of the study, said without more California residents obtaining college degrees to fill jobs, "we're likely to have a lower-income economy overall, with implications for tax revenue and social programs" (Ferriss, Sacramento Bee, 5/24).