In the US labor market, there is a challenge: how to match eager individuals looking for opportunities with the millions of vacant good positions that often remain unfilled because people are unaware or unsure if investing in training is worth it, such as the job of sterilizing surgical instruments. However, there are too few people who understand these professions.
Many of the fastest-growing and most liquid job positions in the United States come from a category of occupations that do not fit the traditional blue-collar or white-collar labels. These intermediate positions require moderate technical skills rather than a college degree, and in fields such as healthcare, information technology, and energy production, salaries can reach five figures or even higher.
Fatima el Idrissi works in a laboratory at a hospital in New York City making $34 per hour, where she is responsible for cleaning and sterilizing surgical instruments used by doctors. The income from this job is twice what she was making as a childcare provider not long ago, and she received less than a year of classroom and internship training for this position.
She was almost unaware of this job opportunity until she stumbled upon a video posted by a woman in Arizona on a Facebook group, highlighting the difficulty hospitals face in finding staff to sterilize surgical instruments.
Another opportunity played a role: she enrolled in LaGuardia Community College, which partners with hospitals to provide internship opportunities necessary for certification. She now works at a hospital under Northwell Health, the largest healthcare group in New York.
Talents needed to fill these job vacancies are often in short supply. According to analysis from the Burning Glass Institute, a think tank analyzing labor market data, 72% of the 6.2 million job vacancies that require less than a bachelor’s or associate degree in 2024 are in workforce shortage occupations. These positions include radiologic technologists, nuclear technicians, and air traffic controllers.
Robert Espinoza, CEO of the National Skills Coalition, states that what we need is “a coordinated career navigation system.” Instead, “people might end up paying high costs for low-quality training programs or certificates that do not lead to good jobs, ultimately leading them into low-paying jobs and hardship.”
Schools like LaGuardia Community College are solving this issue by offering employer-relevant training programs directly. In 2015, LaGuardia launched a training program specifically for personnel to sterilize surgical instruments. “If it’s related to the employer, the students will come,” the college’s president said.
An employer in California focusing on healthcare job training mentioned that entry-level positions pay between $50,000 to $70,000 annually, serving as a stepping stone to higher-paying and higher-skilled positions such as radiologic technologists or surgical technologists.
“Unless one can see a job opportunity after completion of training, it feels too risky,” she said.
Even as the overall job market cools, the demand for these jobs is growing as the number of medical procedures performed by Americans increases. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of positions for surgical technologists (related occupations) is projected to grow by 6% between 2023 and 2033, higher than the national average.