Baby boomer retirements are creating a gap in the workforce that could reverberate far into the future. According to a study conducted at Georgetown University, the U.S. could face a shortage of some 5 million workers by 2020. In some fields, like healthcare and Information Technology, the shortage of skilled workers is expected to be especially high. And while some of the good careers baby boomers are exiting require four-year degrees, many of them do not. Additionally, many college graduates are not even entering the fields in which they got their degrees. A 2012 study by McKinsey & Company found that half of four-year degree graduates believe their jobs don’t require a college degree and one-third don’t believe their school did enough to prepare them for the real world. But don’t you need a college degree to find a good-paying career? Maybe not. According to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 30 percent of high school graduates are actually faring better financially than their college-educated peers. For example, from a list of 300 professions which do not require four-year degrees, electricians ranked number 4 in pay rank and were expected to see job growth of 23 percent through 2020. But you can’t get there without career training! You’ll need a high school diploma or equivalency and then you’ll need to find a career training program that can help you acquire the skills you’ll need for a new career. Career training schools have been working to solve a mounting crisis in the nation’s skills gap by aligning their curriculum closely with the needs of today’s employers. Their academic programs combine traditional classroom instruction with hands-on practical training and/or on-the-job experience, to ensure students are as employable as possible the day they graduate. Programs can also be completed more quickly than traditional four-year degree programs. Porter and Chester Institute is a career training school that has nine campuses throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. Every program at Porter and Chester Institute is designed to give students the technical skills and the soft skills that today’s employers are looking for. If you want to finish your education quickly and begin a new career as soon as possible, check out the career-focused programs at Porter and Chester Institute. Call 800-870-6789 or fill out this form to get started today!