Business seeks better educated employees as technology takes over in the workplace.

Business seeks better educated employees as technology takes over in the workplace

Technology is shaping our lives, altering the workplace and increasing our access to an ever-widening body of information. As the world market becomes more complex and sophisticated, the American workplace in changing rapidly to keep pace.

With personal computers proliferating and answering machines and faxing becoming a way of life for modern business, the demand for better educated employees continues to grow. But business is finding that these new workers don't necessarily have to be college-educated.

However, future trends are clear - entry-level jobs will require workers with more sophisticated skills than ever before. Even simple clerical work demands computer literacy today. In addition to computers, technology has also created opportunities for technicians who can operate sophisticated machinery and for people who can understand and translate technical information.

According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the fastest growing industries from now until the end of the century: computer and data-processing services, health care services, personnel services (such as temporary agencies), and various business services (like credit reporting and accounting services).

Other fast-growing job areas include: paralegals, nurses, medical assistants, physical therapists, data-processing equipment repairmen, home health aides, podiatrists, and computer system analysts.

Many of these jobs are plentiful, pay well and don't require a four-year university degree. However, most do require some time in a specialized certificate program at a community college or university, or a few intensive months at a trade school.

"Southern California is very strong in industry specific programs," says Jack Kyser, chief economist for the LA Area Chamber of Commerce. "We have a lot of trade schools and certificate programs like UCLA's Extension."

And with business complaining about the quality of entry level workers declining every year, he adds, "these specialized programs are very attractive. You come to them ready-trained."

Pointing to increased foreign competition from Europe and Asia, Kyser also recommends any one of a variety of continuing education programs offered around the Southland to forge new skills in the event of layoffs. "For your own protection, it's good to have multiple skills," says Kyser.

An informal survey of several Southland community colleges and adult education programs revealed a plethora of certificate programs ranging from radio engineering and international business to automotive technology and cosmetology. Many programs, like nursing and paralegals, boast plentiful jobs. Others, like marketing and engineering, offer students a competitive edge to stay current in their fields.

Why do people opt for a certificate or occupations program rather than a diploma?

"Usually it's matter of needing income quickly, "notes Pierce College spokesperson Ina Geller. "People need to develop the necessary skills and get into the workforce fast. Some students don't have a degree, others have a masters degree and come back for retraining" in a more lucrative area.

Pierce, part of the Los Angeles Community College district, offers 34 certificate programs and more than 50 occupation programs.

"There are a number of students who don't want or need a four-year degree," says Bruce Smith, spokesperson for Santa Monica College, a two-year school that offers more than 23 occupational and vocational certificate plans. "Whether it be nursing or automotive technology, the financial and job satisfaction rewards can be high."

Then, too, sometimes a non-degree program becomes a springboard to further education, Smith adds. "We've had students in the two-year nurse's program decide to go back get a B.A. or masters in nursing. Or our paralegal students decide they want to go to law school."

Other advantages to non-degree or certificate programs: They're set up for working adults (classes are in the evening or on weekends); students are older than average college freshmen; they can be more flexible.

"We try and target our certificate programs to areas where there's a need, "notes Morgan Lynn, director of extensive programs at the college, pointing to their court reporting and computer programs. "We can also be more responsive to the job market because we don't have the normal constraints or bureaucracy of regular academic classes."

Certificate programs also demand that instructors as well as the curriculum keep up with changing technology. This is particularly true in automotive technology. "The average car has seven computers on-board today," says Dr. Adena Loston, dean of professional programs at Santa Monica College. This summer two of their instructors are participating in special programs put on by the Detroit manufacturers to stay current in their field. In addition, a local Infiniti dealership donated a car to the SMC auto tech department because they needed mechanics who could work on it.

Of all the certificate programs at SMC, according to Loston, the automotive technology students are the highest paid and most in demand. In fact, most don't finish the program, Loston notes. "As soon as they get enough skills, they get hired." Top students can earn up to $80,000 a year working on foreign cars, she says. "The faculty always comments that the students make much more than they do. In fact, it's sort of a tradition of the students to come back and show off their paycheck stubs."

For many students, the allure of certificate programs is "they're short, sweet and to the point," says El Camino Community College Vice President Denise Morgan. "One hundred percent of the certificate is dedicated to the topic. It guarantees an employer that you're trained."

No discussion of certificate programs could be complete without discussing the granddaddy of them all - UCLA's Extension. According to Extension spokesperson Michael Stone, the university's certificate programs have grown through the years because they're very practical, many are taught by working professionals, and they're very focused. Most of their continuing education students already have a degree and are returning for further training. "You can learn something in class and use it the next day at work," Stone says.

Offering more than 70 programs, Stone says certificate programs are popular because they're "bringing what's going on in corporate America today into the classroom.

Tom Badger, former head of the business and management class program at UCLA's Extension, says when he arrived at the university, it offered three business certificate programs. Today there are more than 30, each with 8 to 10 courses. "The workforce has become increasingly specialized," he notes. "Most MBAs are very general. But people need specific knowledge on the job. Our programs fill in the gaps in the educational process," he says, pointing to an entire certificate program in purchasing. "It's more in depth than a major would be."

Certificate programs "fall somewhere between a university and a trade school. They're very practical, but they're educationally and theoretically based as well."

In the next decade, experts predict, better-educated workers who adapt to new technologies will have many job options awaiting them. Workers without skills will have little to choose from and find it difficult making ends meet.

"The dividing line for working America in the 1990s," sums up US News and World Report in their annual career guide, "will be between those who have learned how to learn and those who have not.

PHOTO : Technology: Jobs become specialized