(Photo Credit: Chris Yarzab/Flickr)
As the California economy starts generating some heat with its recovery, there will always be some good news and bad news stories.
One of those good/bad situations is in energy. As this Sacramento TV report shows, the improving economy, not just the rising temperatures, is now adding some strain to the electrical grid here in California.
As we all know, energy is important piece of California’s economic foundation, not just when it goes out. Businesses in California need certainty to keep going and expanding and certainty in energy fits into that picture.
But, the good news is the rising usage shows that people probably have a little more money in their pocket, making them a little more confident to spend, and that includes turning down their A/C.
The SacBee recently took a look at some of those professions who could use some of that coldness with a feature on “hot” jobs, like tree trimmers and cooks.
But a report from Georgetown predicts that the actual “hot” jobs in California over the next several years will be in STEM and healthcare. The study, called Recovery 2020, made predictions of job openings across the country from 2010 to 2020.
The fastest growing jobs areas will be in STEM, healthcare, and community services, according to the report authors, and that includes 27 percent growth in California, or 800,000 jobs.
The number of job openings in the U.S. will number 55 million through 2020. That represents 24 million openings from new jobs and 31 million openings as Boomers retire. California’s openings will total 2.8 million from new jobs and 3.5 million from those retirements.
But the bad news is, while those openings will show up on the job websites, there might not be enough skilled workers to answer and fill them. The report adds that the country will have a shortfall by 2020 of 5 million workers with higher ed degrees.
So, while California’s economy is heating up and our unemployment rate has dropped to 8.6 percent, there’s a lot of work to be done to improve our workforce, among many issues the California Economic Summit is working on, to make sure the recovery is strong enough.
