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High-earning workers who don't have a bachelor's degree Occupational Outlook Quarterly - Fall 1999 by Matthew Mariani

How many people would object to a raise in pay? Not many. Everyone agrees that high earnings are better than low earnings. Statistics show that high-earning workers are likely to have a bachelor’s degree or more education. But not everyone wants to spend 4 or more years in college. In fact, most workers do not have a bachelor’s degree. The good news is that many workers without bachelor’s degrees have high earnings. High earnings are defined here in two ways. Both depend on medians, the point at which half the workers earned more and half earned less. The first measure of high earnings sets the cutoff at the median for earnings of all workers. The second measure raises the cutoff to the median for earnings of workers with a bachelor’s degree.

Many workers who don’t have a bachelor’s degree earn more than the average college graduate. But earnings are only one measure of what makes a job good.

Some people worry that high- paying jobs are no longer available for those without a bachelor’s degree. Many high paying jobs in manufacturing, telecommunications, and some other industries have been eliminated. For men without a bachelor’s degree, earnings adjusted for inflation have fallen over the past 15 years, due in part to these declines in high- paying jobs. Rising requirements for some professional, managerial, and other jobs have made entry without a degree even more difficult. An oversupply of college graduates has also displaced some less educated workers from high- paying jobs, which have not traditionally required a bachelor’s degree. Despite these trends, over 9 million, or 15 percent, of the full- time wage and salary workers age 25 and older who didn’t have a bachelor’s degree in 1998 earned more than $821 a week. That’s more than the median for college graduates. Earnings are one measure of what makes a job good. But choosing the right career involves many factors. Job characteristics, such as the nature of the work and working conditions, are also important. This article identifies occupations in which many highly paid workers do not have a bachelor’s degree and points out other things that make for a good job.

Chart 1: Workers age 25 and older by usual weekly earnings and degree status, 1998 (thousands) Less than $572  $572 - $821  $821 or more

Chart 2: Workers age 25 and older by usual weekly earnings and degree status, 1998 (percent) Less than $572  $572 - $821  $821 or more

Who has high earnings? Median weekly earnings for full- time workers age 25 and older were $572 in 1998. The median for those with at least a bachelor’s degree was $821. The low figure is over two and a half times the expected weekly earnings of a full- time employee paid the minimum wage ($ 5.15 an hour), and the high figure is almost four times higher. In 1998, 22.5 million workers without a bachelor’s degree earned $572 or more a week, and 9 million earned $821 or more. (See chart 1.) Thirty- eight percent of workers without a bachelor’s degree earned more than the median for all workers ($ 572 per week). Fifteen percent of those without a bachelor’s degree earned more than the median for workers with a bachelor’s or higher degree ($ 821 per week). (See chart 2.) In several occupations, more than 10 percent of the workers without bachelor’s degrees earned over $1,000. (See table 1.)

Last year, 15 percent of workers without a bachelor’s degree earned more than $821 per week.

In part, earnings reflect the skills and innate talents of a worker. Other factors, such as location, urban or rural environment, industry, size of the facility, and unionization, also affect earnings. Three additional factors significantly affect the proportion of workers who have high earnings: Occupation Age Education and training.

Occupation. Tables 1, 2, and 3 list all occupations that have more than 50,000 full- time wage and salary workers age 25 or older who usually earn $821 or more a week. These tables exclude small occupations— occupations with fewer than 50,000 employed— in which workers have high earnings. Two examples are elevator installer and air traffic controller. In addition to total employment, table 2 shows the number of workers who do not have a bachelor’s degree and their share of the total. Table 3 lists the same occupations but shows the number of high- earning workers who do not have a bachelor’s degree— those earning $821 or more per week. Table 3 also describes the employment of these high- earning workers as a share of all workers and as a share of those who do not have a bachelor’s degree. Earnings vary within occupations. Not every worker in a high- earning occupation makes a lot of money. Consider the example of freight, stock, and material movers. Although some of these workers enjoy high earnings, most do not. This occupational group appears in table 3 because 54,000 of these workers did not have bachelor’s degrees but earned more than $821 a week. However, these workers accounted for only 7 percent of all freight, stock, and material movers who did not have bachelor’s degrees. As noted in table 1, freight, stock, and material movers had median weekly earnings of $379, much less than the median for all workers.

Some occupations have higher earnings than others, but earnings vary within occupations.

Remember that first impressions may mislead. Annual earnings for seasonal occupations may be lower than implied by weekly earnings: Spells of unemployment reduce annual earnings in these occupations. Excluding part- timers and workers under 25 results in higher earnings numbers because these workers typically earn less. In addition, putting in extra hours in some occupations more readily translates into higher earnings than in others, in part because some workers receive overtime pay.

Age. Earnings tend to increase with age as workers gain experience and seniority. (See chart 3.) This upward trend usually peaks between the ages of 45 and 54. The number of high wage earners is thus concentrated in the 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 age groups. Some of these highly paid workers without bachelor’s degrees entered the job market years ago, when educational requirements for entry were lower and more high- wage manufacturing jobs were available. However, some younger workers without a bachelor’s degree also enjoy high earnings. For example, 24 percent of workers age 25 to 29 who did not have a degree earned $572 or more a week. About 7 percent earned $821 or more.

Table 1 Usual weekly earnings of wage and salary workers age 25 and older with less than a bachelor’s degree, 1998 Occupation Median earnings Minimum earnings of the top 10 percent All occupations $486 $ 939 Accountants and auditors 547 914 Administrators and officials, public administration 628 1,140 Aircraft engine mechanics 790 1,200 Assemblers 403 773 Automotive mechanics 520 938 Carpenters 518 988 Computer programmers 777 1,306 Computer systems analysts and scientists 860 1,389 Construction laborers 404 820 Electrical and electronic engineers 882 1,343 Electrical and electronic equipment repairers, except phone 630 1,060 Electrical and electronic technicians 665 1,088 Electrical power installers and repairers 847 1,227 Electricians 694 1,094 Financial managers 648 1,241 Firefighting occupations 751 1,194 Freight, stock, and material movers, hand 379 742 Health technologists and technicians 492 805 Industrial machinery repairers 612 1,023 Investigators and adjusters, insurance and other 475 759 Machine operators and tenders, except precision 413 782 Machinists 608 985 Mail carriers and postal clerks 665 870 Managers and administrators not elsewhere classified 721 1,373 Managers, food serving and lodging establishments 511 987 Managers, marketing, advertising, and public relations 762 1,517 Managers, medicine and health 587 955 Material moving equipment operators 515 949 Mechanical engineers 897 1,406 Other financial officers 607 1,112 Plant and system operators 686 1,168 Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters 628 1,056 Police and detectives 635 1,026 Real estate sales occupations 618 1,582 Registered nurses 705 1,002 Sales occupations, other business services 586 1,220 Sales representatives, finance and business services 587 1,257 Sales representatives, mining, manufacturing and wholesale 639 1,174 Sales workers, motor vehicles and boats 595 1,133 Secretaries 394 686 Supervisors and proprietors, sales occupations 520 1,035 Supervisors, administrative support occupations 566 915 Supervisors, construction occupations 710 1,156 Supervisors, mechanics and repairers 738 1,148 Supervisors, production occupations 632 1,089 Supervisors, protective service occupations 729 1,229 Telephone and telephone line installers and repairers 767 1,143 Tool and die makers 802 Truckdrivers 540 963 Welders and cutters 542 930

Education. Many workers who lack bachelor’s degrees have other postsecondary education or training. Training other than a bachelor’s degree provides the best preparation for some high- paying jobs. Workers with more training usually earn more. Some high wage occupations are difficult to enter without training, and within occupations, the most highly trained workers tend to collect the largest paychecks and have a better chance of advancing into supervisory jobs.

High wage earners develop skills they need in many ways.

High wage earners develop skills they need in many ways— through associate degree programs, college courses, postsecondary vocational schools and technical institutes, apprenticeships or other formal employer training, informal on- the- job training, and Armed Forces experience. Earnings data are not available for workers with these types of training, but chart 4 shows that earnings increase with education.

What’s good besides earnings? Everyone needs money. Still, hardly anyone chooses an occupation— or a particular job within an occupation— based solely on salary. The perfect career recipe for any individual contains many ingredients besides money. These include the following: Benefits Projected growth and openings Job security Advancement potential Nature of the work. Depending on the mix you prefer, a job with lower earnings might please you more than any other.

Table 2 Employment of wage and salary workers age 25 and older by occupation, 1998 (numbers in thousands) Occupation Total Number with less than a bachelor’s degree Percent All occupations 84,549 58,917 70 Accountants and auditors 1,211 427 35 Administrators and officials, public administration 579 246 42 Aircraft engine mechanics 134 117 87 Assemblers 1,005 955 95 Automotive mechanics 536 513 96 Carpenters 743 712 96 Computer programmers 491 194 40 Computer systems analysts and scientists 1,205 366 30 Construction laborers 536 517 96 Electrical and electronic engineers 580 146 25 Electrical and electronic equipment repairers, except phone 437 363 83 Electrical and electronic technicians 378 312 83 Electrical power installers and repairers 119 114 96 Electricians 608 575 95 Financial managers 628 244 39 Firefighting occupations 198 177 89 Freight, stock, and material movers, hand 871 823 94 Health technologists and technicians 1,161 908 78 Industrial machinery repairers 503 480 95 Investigators and adjusters, insurance and other 1,117 820 73 Machine operators and tenders, except precision 3,852 3,721 97 Machinists 458 437 95 Mail carriers and postal clerks 605 514 85 Managers and administrators not elsewhere classified 5,087 2,565 50 Managers, food serving and lodging establishments 797 618 78 Managers, marketing, advertising, and public relations 710 256 36 Managers, medicine and health 617 324 53 Material moving equipment operators 918 899 98 Mechanical engineers 301 88 29 Other financial officers 599 262 44 Plant and system operators 251 224 89 Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters 375 360 96 Police and detectives 982 735 75 Real estate sales occupations 337 194 58 Registered nurses 1,439 694 48 Sales occupations, other business services 442 234 53 Sales representatives, finance and business services 1,609 778 48 Sales representatives, mining, manufacturing and wholesale 1,182 674 57 Sales workers, motor vehicles and boats 254 206 81 Secretaries 2,054 1,837 89 Supervisors and proprietors, sales occupations 2,895 2,081 72 Supervisors, administrative support occupations 654 469 72 Supervisors, construction occupations 460 409 89 Supervisors, mechanics and repairers 241 210 87 Supervisors, production occupations 1,096 958 87 Supervisors, protective service occupations 210 147 70 Telephone and telephone line installers and repairers 242 219 90 Tool and die makers 123 117 95 Truckdrivers 2,216 2,132 96 Welders and cutters 479 473 99 All other occupations 40,024 27,073 68

Benefits. Many employers provide some benefits that add to the quality of a job. These may include health insurance, life insurance, child-care subsidies, paid holidays and vacation time, sick leave, and employee discounts. Benefits have become a major part of the compensation workers receive. In March 1998, benefits averaged about 28 percent of total compensation costs.

Benefits make up a significant portion of total compensation for many workers.

Some benefits, such as health and life insurance or subsidized child care, are as good as cash. Without them, workers would have to pay expenses out of pocket. Some employers, like airlines, provide free or subsidized travel, while retailers may provide discounts on merchandise. Paid holidays and vacation and sick leave improve quality of life. Depending on the benefits package, a job with lower earnings might provide better total compensation than a job offering just a large paycheck.

Table 3 Employment of wage and salary workers age 25 and older with less than a bachelor’s degree and usual weekly earnings of $821 or more by occupation, 1998 Occupation Number (thousands) Percent of all workers Percent of workers with less than a bachelor’s degree All occupations 9,008 11 15 Accountants and auditors 65 5 15 Administrators and officials, public administration 75 13 30 Aircraft engine mechanics 51 38 44 Assemblers 63 6 7 Automotive mechanics 87 16 17 Carpenters 135 18 19 Computer programmers 91 19 47 Computer systems analysts and scientists 196 16 54 Construction laborers 50 9 10 Electrical and electronic engineers 84 14 58 Electrical and electronic equipment repairers, except phone 95 22 26 Electrical and electronic technicians 79 21 25 Electrical power installers and repairers 62 52 54 Electricians 203 33 35 Financial managers 76 12 31 Firefighting occupations 74 37 42 Freight, stock, and material movers, hand 54 6 7 Health technologists and technicians 83 7 9 Industrial machinery repairers 104 21 22 Investigators and adjusters, insurance and other 60 5 7 Machine operators and tenders, except precision 304 8 8 Machinists 96 21 22 Mail carriers and postal clerks 74 12 14 Managers and administrators not elsewhere classified 1,022 20 40 Managers, food serving and lodging establishments 95 12 15 Managers, marketing, advertising, and public relations 112 16 44 Managers, medicine and health 63 10 19 Material moving equipment operators 138 15 15 Mechanical engineers 51 17 58 Other financial officers 64 11 24 Plant and system operators 78 31 35 Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters 89 24 25 Police and detectives 200 20 27 Real estate sales occupations 56 17 29 Registered nurses 187 13 27 Sales occupations, other business services 61 14 26 Sales representatives, finance and business services 196 12 25 Sales representatives, mining, manufacturing and wholesale 199 17 30 Sales workers, motor vehicles and boats 56 22 27 Secretaries 65 3 4 Supervisors and proprietors, sales occupations 365 13 18 Supervisors, administrative support occupations 80 12 17 Supervisors, construction occupations 135 29 33 Supervisors, mechanics and repairers 79 33 38 Supervisors, production occupations 269 25 28 Supervisors, protective service occupations 57 27 39 Telephone and telephone line installers and repairers 93 38 42 Tool and die makers 53 43 45 Truckdrivers 383 17 18 Welders and cutters 75 16 16 All other occupations 2,426 6 9

Projected growth and openings. The projected growth rate and number of job openings affect the ease or difficulty of finding a job in an occupation and, perhaps, the opportunities for promotion, as well. The Occupational Outlook Handbook and “The 1996- 2006 Job Outlook in Brief” in the spring 1998 OOQ provide vital information on projected occupational employment. In some cases, additional information on competition for jobs is given. Some high wage occupations that do not require a bachelor’s degree, such as machinists, are not expected to grow. Others are expected to grow about as fast as the average for all workers, including truckdrivers, police and detectives, automotive mechanics, material moving equipment operators, and mechanical engineers. Computer programmer, registered nurse, and most health technologist and technician occupations are projected to grow faster than average.

The projected growth rate and number of job openings affect the ease or difficulty of finding a job in an occupation.

For many occupations, projected growth significantly enhances job prospects. Even so, employment growth usually produces fewer openings than those resulting from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations, retire, or stop working for other reasons. For example, the employment of secretaries is projected to increase by 25,000 jobs by 2006, but net replacement needs are expected to provide more than 23 times as many openings. Lack of growth in an occupation does not always mean a lack of job openings. For example, machinists have favorable prospects despite their lack of employment growth, because of the shortage of skilled machinists in the labor market.

Job security. Workers in some occupations and industries are less vulnerable to losing their jobs as a result of economic downturns, seasonal variations in production, or changes in the technologies used to accomplish work. Occupational unemployment rates provide one measure of job security. Workers in occupations with low unemployment rates are less likely to become unemployed. Some occupations having high unemployment rates still qualify as high paying, but workers who desire security may prefer a smaller but more reliable paycheck. Unemployment rates reflect two kinds of unemployment: cyclical and long term. Recessions and seasonal changes in production create cyclical unemployment in many occupations. During slack periods, workers may face temporary layoffs but can expect to resume work when conditions improve. On the other hand, longterm unemployment or even permanent job loss may result from restructuring or plant closings. Jobs in organizations or industries with good long- term prospects are obviously more desirable. If you lose your job, you will likely find another one in such an industry. Advancement potential. Some occupations offer a natural path for career advancement. For instance, an electrician apprentice becomes a journey level electrician and then, perhaps, an electrician supervisor or contractor. Workers in other occupations may need to blaze their own trail to success. Still other occupations or jobs offer few, if any, chances for advancement. Promotion potential varies from employer to employer. In general, fast growing occupations and organizations offer better promotion prospects. Large employers often provide better prospects, but small organizations may offer broader responsibilities and opportunities to learn a wider range of skills. The most successful workers look for opportunities and seize them when they arise.

Chart 3 Workers without a bachelor’s degree earning $572 or more per week by age, 1998 (percent)   25 to 29       30 to 34         35 to 44         45 to 54         55 and over

Nature of the work. What type of work holds the greatest appeal? It all depends on the person. Different occupations correspond with varying individual, social, and physical characteristics. Everyone weighs these factors in their own way when deciding what makes a job good. Individuals like doing tasks that interest them, use their skills, and satisfy their needs in other ways. What interests you? Is it cars, music, children, or any one of thousands of other subjects? Do you like taking risks, or do you desire security? Does stress motivate you or make you sick? Different personalities crave different types of activities, such as the following: Helping others Analyzing data or information Coordinating events and activities Teaching or mentoring Selling or persuading Operating or fixing machinery Creating new concepts, designs, or works of art Running an enterprise Managing the efforts of others Organizing ideas or programs. Individuals have their own ideas about the work environment they prefer. Some people like dealing with customers or coworkers all day long, whereas others would rather work alone more often than not. But in either case, having a good supervisor and friendly coworkers may count for a lot. Important physical characteristics of work include the level of physical exertion necessary, cleanliness and safety of the workplace, and ability to control the pace of work and the methods used. Geographic location also matters. For some people, a good job is one that is near their home. Different workers value the idea of paid work differently. The hours that high pay demands may clash with what a worker wants. Some only want part- time work so they can devote their energies to family responsibilities, school, or other pursuits. To learn more about the many distinguishing characteristics of occupations, see “Matching Yourself With the World of Work, 1998,” in the fall 1998 OOQ. To obtain a reprint of this article, call the Consumer Information Center at 1(888) 878- 3256.

Chart 4 Workers without a bachelor’s degree earning $572 or more per week by education level, 1998 (percent) Less than a high school diploma High school graduate or equivalent Some college, no degree Associate degree

Are you ready? The data reveal many good jobs for those who do not have a bachelor’s degree— not only jobs with high wages, but also jobs that are good for other reasons. Every job has its positives and negatives. One factor seldom makes a job good or bad. Find out all you can about occupations that interest you. Research the entry requirements and other characteristics so you will know what to expect. Above all, choose a career that meets your definition of good. The demand for skilled workers will remain strong. Are you ready? Matthew Mariani is desktop publisher for the OOQ, (202) 606- 5728.

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