Blue collar work remains pertinent in labor force

Latinos have historically had a strong presence in blue-collar industries. From steel mills to construction sites, electrical engineering or plumbing, blue-collar work has always come with specialized training and experience in the field. Although many young Latinos are attending college and making their way into the white collar work force, blue collar jobs are still going strong, making up a large percentage of jobs in the labor force.

Currently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows many of the highest occupational jobs that making up the labor force are considered blue-collar jobs. Construction and extraction jobs and installation, maintenance and repair occupations each make up close to four percent of the U.S. labor force. Architecture and engineering make up almost 2 percent of the work force; transportation and moving material make up about 7; production makes up approximately 6.5 percent and construction and extraction make up about 4 percent.

Forbes listed the top 20 highest paying blue-collar jobs. The top paying job was elevator installer or repairer whose job growth is expected at 11 percent between 2010 and 2020. Among others were electricians which are estimated to grow by 23 percent between 2010 and 2020; boilermakers whose employment is expected to grow 21 percent between 2010 and 2020; and plumbers, pipe fitters and steam fitters whose job employment are expected to grow 26 percent between 2010 and 2020. Though the recession brought work and employment to a halt, Latinos and Asians lead the way in job growth after the years of the Great Recession, states a Pew Hispanic Center study, which lasted from December 2007 to June 2009. The recovery period is that from 2009 to 2011 where Latinos were most successful in job gains. Among them, were jobs in the hospitality industry and construction.

“A handful of industries were responsible for most of the job gains in the economic recovery. Both Hispanics and non-Hispanics gained significant numbers of jobs in professional business services, wholesale and retail trade, and manufacturing,” states the Pew Hispanic Center study, Employment Gains by Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Nativity: The Demographics of the Jobs Recovery. “The leading source of jobs growth for Hispanics was the hospitality sector eating, drinking and lodging services where they gained 326,000 jobs from 2009 to 2011. They also gained 101,000 jobs in construction.” As time goes on and the country gets further away from the recession that hit the entire world in a negative way, job growth is proceeding to increase.

This article was originally published by www.empleoscb.com