Middle skills jobs boom across California

When the real estate market crash wiped out her job at a tile company, Jessica Schroeder knew it was time to go back to school.

The La Quinta resident always wanted to be a nurse. She studied hard during the recession, took her final exam two weeks after giving birth to twins and, in June, graduated from the nursing program at Cal State San Bernardino.

"I realized that I needed to find a career that would be long-term and something I felt passionate about," she said.

Schroeder, 32, is entering one of the most optimistic professions in the Inland Empire. Nursing jobs are expected to grow 10 percent by 2017, an increase compounded by an aging workforce and rising demand for more health care services to treat senior baby boomers.

Nursing represents the kind of job that pays enough income to support your family but, at least traditionally, doesn't require extensive education beyond high school. It's a middle-skill job. And there are thousands like it across the Inland Empire.

Middle-skill jobs offer a bridge between job seekers who say they're still without work and employers who say they can't find qualified candidates. With a little training in a new career, the unemployed have a shot at landing one of the 24,963 new middle-skill jobs projected for the region over the next three years. An exodus of retiring workers will also leave behind a gap in jobs waiting to be filled.

These are the truck drivers, the electrical power-line installers, the bus mechanics, the radiologic technologists and the building inspectors. A whole spectrum of growing middle-skill jobs could transform the Inland Empire into one of the most economically robust and diverse metro areas in the country.

A USA TODAY analysis of Economic Modeling Specialists International and Career Builder data shows:

• The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area ranks 13th out of the 125 top metros in the country for new middle-skill jobs
• Middle-skill jobs with a livable wage comprise a third of the 92,499 total new jobs expected by 2017.
• Nursing and truck driving jobs are tied for largest job growth, each projected to gain 2,400 positions.

The bright outlook stems from the sheer diversity of growing jobs. In August, the 2.8 percent year-over-year economic growth in the Inland Empire outperformed the rest of Southern California.

"It's broad-based," said Esmael Adibi, a Chapman University professor who has long studied the Coachella Valley and Inland Empire based on various economic data. "It's not just one sector driving job growth. They're all kind of hiring, and it's any particular sector."

The only sluggish industry was manufacturing, which shrank 0.6 percent from August 2013. All others reported yearly growth, from construction to retail trade, transportation, professional and business services, educational services, leisure and hospitality and government.

Health care is a shining economic driver. In August, health care firms hired 3.5 percent more workers compared with a year ago. Dental hygienists and radiologic technologists, two of the fastest-growing jobs, are expected to jump at least 14 percent by 2017.

With an associate's degree, a dental hygienist could make the median hourly wage of $41 per hour. With the same degree, a radiologic technologist could make the median $31 per hour. With a minimum of a high school diploma, pharmacy technicians could make the median $17 per hour.

Some blue-collar jobs can pay a good wage, and may only require a high school education. Take laborer supervisors and transportation, storage and distribution managers, for instance. Both occupations will grow at least 13 percent over the next three years. Those supervisors get paid median wages of $22 per hour; managers, $37 per hour.

Middle-skill jobs like machine tool operators and respiratory therapists may offer a steady career for workers who want to earn more than the minimum wage of $9 an hour in California.

"We're getting all types of jobs," Adibi said. "We want the job creation to be broad-based to absorb those people, too."

But the greatest middle-skilled job opportunities still stand in nursing and truck driving.

The two occupations will outpace all other jobs, by far.

Truck driver shortage

Trucks carry most of the goods traveling within or through California.

In 2012, about 111,800 kilotons of domestic shipments snaked to, through and from the state to other destinations. That's more than twice the combined amount transported by trains, ships, airplanes and pipelines, according to a statewide Freight Mobility Plan proposed by the California State Transportation Agency.

But not enough people are driving the cargo.

High turnover and retiring baby boomer drivers have carved a hole in the labor force. And industry advocates and Inland Empire regional carriers say the truck driver shortage is worsening.

"It's been a devastating issue for my company," said Bill Smerber, owner of CPS Express Inc. in Mira Loma. The firm employs 35 truck drivers and 25 owner-operators.

One in five heavy truck drivers are ages 55 and older, approaching retirement. And yet heavy and tractor-trailer driving jobs are expected to grow 10 percent by 2017, gaining 2,383 new positions.

Valerie Liese, president of Jack Jones Trucking Inc. in Ontario, took over the business from her father, the namesake of the company. Liese oversees 85 employees, at least 30 of whom are truck drivers. Many are starting to retire. Last year, one driver retired after 40 years with the company, Liese said. Then four months ago, a terminal manager who began as a truck driver retired after 39 years.

"We're just trying to find new fresh blood," Liese said. "We've got a lot of positions available."

Finding younger workers to offset the retiring baby boomers has been a struggle, business leaders say. They believe younger candidates are simply turned off by life on the road.

It can be tough. Truck drivers work long hours, up to 12 or 13 a day. They have to keep a clean driving record and pass background checks and drug tests. They also earn low pay, at least in the beginning. But there's also an appealing sense of freedom, of independence away from an office. And working for a regional carrier that covers Southern California, such as Jack Jones or CPS, means you can be home in a day or two, instead of being away for weeks at a time when working for a national carrier.

"You can't be a truck driver and have it be just a job," said Robert Skidmore, a Hemet resident who's been a truck driver for more than 15 years. "You have to actually love being a truck driver, because it's not easy, and it's a different lifestyle."

Truckers drive all sorts of goods: high-end patio furniture, fire hydrants, medical supplies, concrete pipes, plastic pipes, air conditioning and heaters, rope, acrylic sheets, even fiberglass figures of Nemo, the Disney cartoon fish.

If truckers drive special, heavy or dangerous loads such as cattle, hazardous materials or an oil tanker, they can get paid even more. Those jobs require special HAZMAT or tank truck training, on top of a commercial driver's license.

In 2005, Skidmore briefly left the industry and became a warehouse supervisor in the desert for nine years. But he missed the trucker's life too much.

"You get to see different people and talk to different people every day," said Skidmore, 50. His coworkers at Jack Jones Trucking also feel like extended family. "That's kind of what turned me back to trucking."

Inland Empire heavy and tractor-trailer drivers make a median hourly wage of $19.87 an hour. But it's possible to earn a lucrative salary. Liese says some Jack Jones drivers who earn commission based on the value of the delivery earn $3,000 to $4,000 per bi-weekly paycheck — about $80,000 a year.

Trucking companies say it's hard to pay their drivers more. The cost of keeping vehicles up to state-mandated air quality standards and paying for rising gas prices, vehicle maintenance and insurance have made it tougher to stay in business, industry leaders say.

In Pomona, KKW Trucking began a special program two years ago to usher new drivers into the industry. Seasoned drivers are paired with recent graduates from a truck driving school and coach them one-on-one.

"We had to convince the insurance company, because it was no more of a risk," said Lynette Brown, chief financial officer of KKW Trucking, a Pomona-based firm operating in 11 western states. "We did it in a way that we controlled it. We made sure they went through a good training program."

Higher bars and demand for nurses

Nurses will continue to experience rapid demand as more baby boomers need long-term health care.

In the Coachella Valley, 19 percent of the population in the nine desert cities are ages 65 years or older, according to 2010 data from the U.S. Census.

"As you age, you're going to have a lot of chronic diseases that need to get taken care of," said Nancy Wolf, assistant director of the nursing program at the Palm Desert campus of Cal State San Bernardino.

Registered nursing jobs will grow 10 percent from 2013 to 2017, adding 2,402 new positions. In the Inland Empire, registered nurses earn a median pay of $40.85 an hour.

Coachella Valley nursing programs are relatively new. Once, only the College of the Desert offered an associate's degree in nursing. The program is so popular, eligible students are chosen by lottery from a long waiting list.

Then Cal State San Bernardino began offering a nursing bachelor's degree at its Palm Desert campus. The inaugural class of nursing students graduated in 2010. The next year, Santa Barbara Business College opened a campus in Rancho Mirage to expand programs, including licensed practical and vocational nursing, health information technology and medical assistance.

Prospective nurses face higher bars for education. A 2010 report from the Institute of Medicine recommended that nurses achieve higher education to the fullest extent, suggesting that more schooling leads to better quality of health care.

"The hospitals now really want BSN nurses," Wolf said.

Nurses with an associate's degree may have to sign a contract from their employer, pledging they will earn a bachelor's degree within two years, Wolf said. Cal State offers a bridge program to help currently-practicing nurses achieve their bachelor's degree.

Tiffany Caranci, a Cathedral City resident, graduated in June with a bachelor's degree from the Cal State program and passed a six-hour state licensing test over the summer. She wanted to begin her career with as much training as possible.

"I can really dedicate my time," said Caranci, who works as a patient care technician in the pre-operating and recovery rooms at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage. "I can just focus on caring for my patients" instead of having to make plans for extra schooling.

Her classes were small at Cal State, roughly only 20 students. They received hands-on experience in the simulation lab, where mannequins act as patients. The dummies have sophisticated electronics: Some can cry, bleed, or have a beating pulse. Students practice finding the right medicine to treat the dummy, which can sense when the right treatment is chosen.

"I always felt such an admiration for them ... to take care of people who are sometimes in the worst possible state of health," said Schroeder, who worked as a critical care technician in the ICU at Eisenhower. "I thought it was wonderful to be there for somebody and help them through it, and not only them but their family."

Job prospects are bright for recent registered nursing graduates. An array of specialties and settings offer vast opportunity. A nurse could work in orthopedics, pediatrics, maternity rooms and outpatient care. There are major hospitals, private practices and assisted-living facilities.

"The demand is coming from clinics, urgent cares, mental health, rehabs, retirees," said Dr. Amr Hassanein, CQ both, medical chair of the Rancho Mirage campus for SBB College. "We see a lot more assistants and physical therapy assistants."

The licensed practical and vocational nursing career is so popular, SBB College offers a 14-months-long accelerated, competitive job training program to funnel students more quickly through the curriculum and into the workforce.

The curriculum is intense, requiring clinicals two days of the week and class for two days of the week, said Dana Pionk, vocational nursing program manager at the Rancho Mirage campus of SBB College.

Vocational nurses offer basic nursing care and have less responsibility over a patient's health care than registered nurses. Vocational nurses can check blood pressure, change bandages and insert catheters. They can earn the median pay of $21 per hour, less than the $40 per hour of registered nurses. But they don't need as much education.

"It's a great starting point to get into the nursing program if you can't get into an RN program," Pionk said.