Retraining for White-Collar Workers

With the economy the way it is, retraining programs are now gearing up for white-collar workers.

California Retraining

With a $415-million package from the Federal stimulus, unemployed Californian (CA) white-collar workers – managers and high-wage employees – can now retrain for new industries. The programs provide higher-level certification for the fields of entertainment and healthcare. Other hot retraining programs include those for fundraising, global sustainability and human resource management.

The funding package from the stimulus doubles the funds for this and other programs under the Workforce Investment Act. This program is being done at the UCLA Extension, one of the region’s largest institutions for continuing education.

White-Collar Concerns

The issue with white-collar jobs is that with each recession, more high-level employees are being laid-off. Worse, their positions aren’t opened anymore, with technology and workplace refinements rendering many of these jobs as either redundant or useless.
This is in contrast to blue-collar jobs, where openings level up when the economy gets back on track. Lower-level job openings simply contract and expand with the times – and for most of the time, people on this level can be reemployed once the market recovers.

From real estate to retraining

Many of the white-collar casualties come from real estate: mortgage brokers, escrow agents and other people who had similar jobs. But many of the unemployed from this field are now looking to industries that aren’t cyclical in nature – hence the concentration on job retraining programs for the likes of entertainment and healthcare.

Sign up on the box at the right for more information on retraining programs and other options.