Addendum with evidence (8.2 MB) - Accreditation - Bakersfield ...

certificate standards. Wind industry employers present limited instructional program opportunities
for the colleges. The College could consider forming partnerships with employers near college
facilities, or developing strategies to incorporate wind turbine technician training into existing
programs. Two-thirds of the jobs in the energy efficiency industry are traditional occupations, not
new occupations. Colleges are advised to invest in new content for existing courses, build
relationships with employers to create apprenticeships, and “pipeline” training programs, and direct
the instruction to industry certification standards. The bio-energy industry, which is strongly tied to
the agriculture industry, is projected to have slow growth, and therefore, few new employment
opportunities. For the present, the colleges are advised to monitor state and federal policy or
legislation that may support the industry in California. Alternative transportation as an industry is
located within large vehicle fleet operations. Where these are near a college, the recommended
strategy is to embed alternative fuels education into existing electrical and automotive instructional
programs. The compliance and sustainability employment opportunities span across several
industries and affect both public and private employers. The greatest need in compliance and
sustainability is knowledge of regulations and policy.
These state and regional highlights of occupations for the future provide opportunities for
those students willing and able to relocate. There are opportunities for students with different levels
of education from industry certification to an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree. As noted
below, there are some future employment opportunities in the local county economy as well. The
labor market information below was developed by the California Employment Development
Department (EDD) through surveys they conducted with business and industry. That work was
completed in 2007 for the ten-year projection 2008-2018. At the time neither the survey respondents
nor the officials at EDD could have anticipated the depth of the recession that started in 2008 or the
protracted nature of the recovery with particularly severe consequences to state and local
government employment. While the economy is recovering, it has been a relative “job-less” recovery
with more employment growth in the private sector than in public sector jobs. The projections that
follow will be interpreted with this caveat in mind.
Through the year 2018, the EDD expects the fastest growing industry sectors in Kern
County to be Education Services, Health Care and Social Assistance, each with an annual growth
rate of about 4%. Several other sectors will exceed the average annual growth rate of 1.4%. These
include Wholesale Trade (3.3% annual growth), Professional and Business Services (2.5% annual
growth), and Leisure and Hospitality (2.1% annual growth). Between 2008 and 2018, approximately
43,100 new jobs are expected from industry growth while 71,200 job openings are anticipated from
net replacements. That is a combined total of more than 114,300 job openings. 13
In Kern County, 50 occupations with the most job openings are expected to make up 57% of all
job openings. The occupations with the highest growth numbers are predicted to be farm workers
and laborers (crop, nursery, and greenhouse), cashiers, and retail salespersons. None of these are
particularly high paying occupations and all usually require only short-term on-the-job training.
Occupations requiring little to moderate amounts of on-the-job training (up to 12 months) make up
35 of the 50 occupations with the most openings. Therefore, there are opportunities for the College
to contribute to the economic development of the County by providing education and skill
development experiences that will lead to higher-wage jobs. Occupations with growth expectations,
and which require an Associate Degree or higher include management analysts, registered nurses,
general and operations managers, elementary and secondary school teachers, farm, ranch and other
13 State of California, Employment Development Department “2008-2018 Kern County Projection Highlights,” Labor
Market Information Retrieved November 2, 2011 from http://www.labormarketinfo.edu.ca.gov
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