A new class of profession called “new collar jobs” is seeing increasing demand for workers. You might want to get on the bandwagon before its saturated.
The term “new collar” was coined by IBM CEO Ginni Rometty in late 2016. It mostly refers to occupations in technology – such as cloud computing technicians, database managers, cybersecurity analysts, user interface designers, and other IT roles. New collar jobs don’t require a university degree but do require tech skills and soft skills, and a specialized or non-traditional education.
According to CNBC, these jobs are in high demand. And the so-called “skills gap,” in which jobs stay vacant for lack of qualified applicants, is providing opportunities to people “who take the initiative to train for hotly desired skills.”
CNBC says, “Many new-collar jobs offer the potential for job security, career growth and a large salary increase from other jobs available to those without college degrees. While the median annual salary for someone with some college but no degree is about $40,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, many new-collar jobs offer wages over six figures.”
These are the 15 best paying new collar jobs and their salaries according to CNBC:
Ruby on Rails Engineer – $100,080-$110,590
Senior Front End Developer – $100,080-$110,590
Front End Software Engineer – $100,080-$110,590
UI Software Engineer – $100,080-$110,590
Ruby on Rails Developer – $100,080-$110,590
Senior NET Software Developer – $100,080-$110,590
Senior Web Developer – $100,080-$110,590
Financial Sales Advisor – $76,230-123,100
Mortgage Loan Originator – $73,570-76,260
Emergency Room Registered Nurse – $72,180
Critical Care Registered Nurse – $72,180
Telemetry Registered Nurse – $72,180
Nurse Case Manager – $72,180
Mortgage Protection Specialist – $67,760-$102,260
Mortgage Protection Sales – $67,760-$102,260
This will come as no surprise to anyone who has taken note of the decreasing ROI on university education. As information and education become more readily available and accessible through technology and in alternative environments, the bachelors degree will, I predict (and have been predicting for years now), continue to see its job market value plummet.
These non-university and vocational education opportunities can be found in private/for-profit colleges, as well as coding schools and camps, MOOCS, and even self-teaching.
And industry demand to fill these jobs has led to the development of tech-focused education initiatives. These include a partnership between Delta Air Lines and several aviation maintenance schools in the US to develop a curriculum focused on skills needed in the aviation industry and IBM’s P-Tech program. People are also acquiring the skills for these jobs through apprenticeship programs.
And getting educated doesn’t necessarily have to saddle you with a load of debt, as there are often ranges of options and price points, starting at $0 for free online courses.
“Most for-profit schools have classes at multiple price points, ranging from free online courses to full-time intensive sessions that can cost up to $15,000,” says CNBC.
If you’re looking to beef up your skills and land one of these new collar positions, the top desired skills are as follows, desired in new-collar jobs are in tech, according to CNBC:
AngularJS
JQuery
HTML5
JavaScript
User Interface Design
Python
User Experience
Design Development
Java
MySQL
Software Development
PHP
HTML
Relational Database
SQL Server
SaaS
SQL
AutoCAD
Amazon Web Service
Six Sigma