Where are the jobs?

According to Jobs for the Future (JFF) by the year 2020, almost seventy percent of jobs in the United States will require post-secondary credentials. Additionally, millions of students graduate unprepared for careers. The job market is changing and there are shortages in some key areas, especially skilled trades. While some students know exactly what they want to do in the future, many others are uncertain.  In order to prepare students for the future, we should provide them with resources to investigate different career options and the required skills. For example, this Tampa Bay Times article illuminates how Tampa Bay added the fifth highest number of construction jobs in any metro area in the past year. That sounds great! However, there is a problem. Read the article to discover the problem! Discuss solutions. Then have students visit the Tampa Bay Job Link to research jobs. What are the educational requirements? What skills do you need? 

Standards and Economics Questions
Elementary
SS.4.FL.1.1 People have many different types of jobs from which to choose. Identify different jobs requiring people to have different skills. Search through different jobs on the Tampa Bay Job Link . What are the different jobs? What skills do the jobs require?

Middle School 
SS.8.FL.1.2 Identify the many decisions people must make over a lifetime about their education, jobs, and careers that affect their incomes and job opportunities. Search through different jobs on the Tampa Bay Job Link . What credentials do the jobs require? 

SS.8.FL.1.3 Explain that getting more education and learning new job skills can increase a persons human capital and productivity. For example, investigate some jobs on Ionfuture.org and We Use Math Careers. How does gaining new skills help increase your career potential? 
SS.8.FL.1.4 Examine the fact that people with less education and fewer job skills tend to earn lower incomes than people with more education and greater job skills. Interview ten people that work at different jobs. How does education and/or training help people to earn more money or find more job satisfaction? 

High School
SS.912.FL.1.1 Discuss that people choose jobs or careers for which they are qualified based on non-income factors, such as job satisfaction, independence, risk, family, or location. Interview ten people that work at different jobs. What are some of the reasons they chose their jobs or careers? 

SS.912.FL.1.3 Evaluate ways people can make more informed education, job, or career decisions by evaluating the benefits and costs of different choices. For example, investigate some future careers on Ionfuture.org and We Use Math Careers. Then search through different jobs on the Tampa Bay Job Link . Choose four things you would like to do. What are the costs and benefits of those four different jobs or careers? 
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SS.912.FL.1.2 Explain that people vary in their willingness to obtain more education or training because these decisions involve incurring immediate costs to obtain possible future benefits. Describe how discounting the future benefits of education and training may lead some people to pass up potentially high rates of return that more education and training may offer. How does education and/or training help people to earn more money or find more job satisfaction? ​
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