2025-04-16 They Are Hot, Upwardly Mobile Jobs. Here’s Why They Are So Hard to Fill.
Fatima el Idrissi makes $34 an hour in a New York City hospital lab, where she washes and sterilizes instruments used by surgeons. It’s double what she earned not long ago as a child-care aide and required less than a year of classroom and internship training.
Fatima el Idrissi在纽约市一家医院实验室每小时赚取 34 美元，她负责清洗和消毒外科医生使用的器械。这是她不久前作为儿童护理助理收入的两倍，且只需不到一年的课堂和实习培训。
She almost didn’t find out the job existed. She randomly spotted a video posted in a Facebook group by a woman in Arizona—and discovered hospitals struggle to find staff who can sterilize surgical equipment.
她差点没发现这份工作。她偶然在一个 Facebook 群组里看到一位亚利桑那州女性发布的视频，了解到医院难以找到能够消毒外科设备的员工。
A second bit of luck helped, too: finding her way to LaGuardia Community College, which partners with hospitals for internships required to earn a certification. Now she works at a hospital owned by Northwell Health, the largest healthcare system in New York.
另一个幸运因素是她找到了拉瓜迪亚社区学院，该学院与医院合作提供获得认证所需的实习机会。现在她在纽约最大的医疗系统北威尔健康拥有的一家医院工作。
Her path to a middle-class job with career potential reflects a fundamental riddle of the U.S. labor market: how to match people eager for opportunity with the millions of good jobs that go unfilled because workers don’t know about them or whether investing in the training will pay off.
她通往具有职业潜力的中产阶级工作的道路反映了美国劳动力市场的一个根本难题：如何将渴望机会的人与数百万因工人不了解或不确定培训是否值得而空缺的好工作匹配起来。
While President Trump seeks to use tariffs to revitalize U.S. manufacturing jobs, many of the fastest-growing jobs with upward mobility stem from a class of careers that defy traditional blue- and white-collar labels. Somewhere in the middle, they require a modest level of tech-infused skills, not a college degree, and can pay in the high-five figures and eventually more, in areas such as healthcare, information technology and energy production.
虽然特朗普总统试图通过关税来振兴美国制造业就业，但许多具有上升空间的快速增长职位来自一类打破传统蓝领和白领标签的职业。这些职位介于两者之间，要求具备一定的技术技能，不需要大学学位，薪资可达五位数高端，甚至更高，涉及医疗保健、信息技术和能源生产等领域。
People who can fill them tend to be in short supply. Of the 6.2 million job openings in 2024 that required less than a bachelor’s or associate degree, 72% were in occupations with labor shortages, according to data from Burning Glass Institute, a think tank that analyzes labor-market data. They include radiation therapists, nuclear technicians and air-traffic controllers.
能胜任这些职位的人往往供不应求。根据分析劳动力市场数据的智库 Burning Glass Institute 的数据，2024 年 620 万个不需要学士或副学士学位的职位空缺中，有 72%属于劳动力短缺的职业。这些职业包括放射治疗师、核技术员和空中交通管制员。
“I had never heard of this job,” said el Idrissi, a 38-year-old mother of three who completed her training at LaGuardia in 2023. “Now I’ve got a first step in a hospital so I can go on to other medical fields if I want.”
“我以前从未听说过这份工作，”38 岁的三孩母亲埃尔·伊德里西说，她于 2023 年在拉瓜迪亚完成了培训。“现在我在医院迈出了第一步，如果愿意，我可以继续进入其他医疗领域。”
U.S. workers have long benefited from an “invisible hand”-style labor market based on supply-and-demand signals. Some are lucky enough to have some career counseling or training in high school or college. Most, though, learn what skills businesses need and how to acquire them by observing the people and economic activity around them, getting advice from family and friends, applying for open jobs and talking to employers.
美国工人长期以来受益于基于供需信号的“看不见的手”式劳动力市场。有些人有幸在高中或大学接受职业咨询或培训。然而，大多数人通过观察周围的人和经济活动、听取家人和朋友的建议、申请空缺职位以及与雇主交谈，来了解企业需要哪些技能以及如何获得这些技能。
The downside is that career decisions—some of the most critical choices of people’s lives—often come down to a haphazard mix of initiative, luck, coincidence and connections. Many struggle to find their way into careers with good wages and growth prospects. Even with the right training, workers’ lack of connections can contribute to the mismatch.
不利的一面是，职业决策——人们生活中一些最关键的选择——往往取决于零散的主动性、运气、巧合和人脉。许多人难以找到薪资良好且有发展前景的职业。即使有了合适的培训，工人缺乏人脉也可能导致供需不匹配。
For employers, this fragmented process means millions of jobs go unfilled.
对雇主来说，这种零散的过程意味着数百万个职位无人填补。
What’s needed is “a coordinated career-navigation system,” said Robert Espinoza, chief executive of the National Skills Coalition. Instead, “people may end up overpaying for low-quality training programs or credentials that don’t lead to good jobs, and then fall into low-paying jobs where they get stuck.”
全国技能联盟首席执行官罗伯特·埃斯皮诺萨表示，需要的是“一套协调的职业导航系统”。相反，“人们可能最终为低质量的培训项目或无法带来好工作的证书支付过高费用，然后陷入薪资低廉且难以脱身的工作。”
It’s a conundrum schools like LaGuardia Community College are tackling with in-demand training with a direct connection to employers. In 2015, LaGuardia launched a program to train people who sterilize surgical instruments. “If I’m relevant to employers, the students will come,” said LaGuardia President Kenneth Adams.
这是拉瓜迪亚社区学院等学校正在解决的难题，他们通过与雇主直接对接的热门培训项目来应对。2015 年，拉瓜迪亚启动了一个培训手术器械消毒员的项目。拉瓜迪亚校长肯尼斯·亚当斯说：“如果我对雇主有用，学生们就会来。”
Entry-level hourly jobs pay around $50,000 to $70,000 a year, and the job is a steppingstone to better-paying and higher-skilled roles, such as radiology or surgical technicians, said Rebecca Hanson, executive director of an employer-union partnership in California that helps train people for healthcare jobs.
入门级的小时工年薪大约在 5 万到 7 万美元之间，这份工作是通往更高薪、更高技能岗位的跳板，比如放射科或手术技师，加利福尼亚一个帮助培训医疗岗位人员的雇主-工会合作组织执行董事丽贝卡·汉森说。
“Unless someone can see they’ll have a job at the end of the training, it feels like too much of a risk,” she said.
“除非有人能看到培训结束后有工作，否则这感觉风险太大了，”她说。
Even as the overall job market cools, demand for these workers is growing along with the number of medical procedures Americans are undergoing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, surgical technologist roles, a related job, are forecast to rise 6% between 2023 and 2033, higher than the national average.
即使整体就业市场趋于冷却，对这些工人的需求仍在增长，随着美国人接受的医疗程序数量增加。据劳工统计局数据显示，手术技术员这一相关职位预计在 2023 年至 2033 年间增长 6%，高于全国平均水平。
On a recent Saturday, around 25 students sat in a basement classroom at LaGuardia’s campus in Queens, giving presentations about acid versus alkaline detergents and learning about the compounds used to clean glass and metals.
最近一个星期六，大约 25 名学生坐在拉瓜迪亚社区学院皇后区校区的地下教室里，做关于酸性与碱性洗涤剂的演讲，并学习用于清洁玻璃和金属的化合物。
Most of the students are long on ambition and short on resources, looking for a road out of low-paid work in industries like food service or hospitality. The classroom portion of the training costs $1,500, and scholarships cover most of the cost.
大多数学生雄心勃勃但资源匮乏，寻求摆脱食品服务或酒店业等低薪工作的出路。培训的课堂部分费用为 1500 美元，奖学金覆盖了大部分费用。
But like many people entering the workforce or looking for new careers, students largely come to the program through word-of-mouth and self-directed research.
但像许多进入职场或寻找新职业的人一样，学生们主要是通过口口相传和自我指导的研究来到这个项目的。
“We want to get better jobs,” said Albermis De Los Angeles, a 38-year-old supermarket worker who learned about the program from a former co-worker. “He recommended the class, but he said you have to study, study. It’s a lot to learn.” She left the program early because of family obligations but hopes to return this year.
“我们想找到更好的工作，”38 岁的超市员工阿尔贝米斯·德洛斯安赫莱斯说，她是从一位前同事那里了解到这个项目的。“他推荐了这门课程，但他说你必须学习，学习。要学的东西很多。”她因为家庭原因提前离开了项目，但希望今年能回来。
Other people turn to what’s likely the world’s most common career adviser: Google. Shyann Lynch, 34, was managing an Olive Garden in Brooklyn before the pandemic. She searched Google for “highest paying job with the shortest amount of time” for training, and landed at LaGuardia in a two-year radiologic technology program. After two attempts to complete it, she came back for the shorter instrument-sterilization course.
其他人则转向了可能是世界上最常见的职业顾问：谷歌。34 岁的希安·林奇在疫情前管理着布鲁克林的一家橄榄园餐厅。她在谷歌搜索“培训时间最短且薪资最高的工作”，最终选择了拉瓜迪亚社区学院的两年制放射技术课程。经过两次尝试完成该课程后，她又回来了，选择了更短的器械消毒课程。
A case manager, Arlene Chico-Lugo, visits regularly to talk to students on class breaks, trying to address issues like missed classes, an eviction notice or a gap in child care. “I’m seeing a lot of domestic violence and homelessness right now,” she said. If students need help paying for rent or groceries, she can arrange small grants out of LaGuardia Cares, a fund set up to help students through short-term emergencies.
案例经理阿琳·奇科-卢戈定期在课间休息时与学生交谈，试图解决缺课、驱逐通知或儿童照顾空档等问题。“我现在看到很多家庭暴力和无家可归的情况，”她说。如果学生需要帮助支付房租或购买食品杂货，她可以安排来自 LaGuardia Cares 的少量资助，该基金旨在帮助学生度过短期紧急情况。
少有人关注的职业。
After completing the classroom training, students immediately take the preliminary certification exam. LaGuardia administrators then help place them at area hospitals for an unpaid internship. They do 400 hours of work, and most continue to work a paid job on the side. More than 80% make it all the way through and find jobs in the field, usually where they interned.
完成课堂培训后，学生立即参加初步认证考试。LaGuardia 的管理人员随后帮助他们安排在当地医院进行无薪实习。他们需要完成 400 小时的工作，大多数人同时继续从事有薪工作。超过 80%的学生顺利完成全部课程，并在实习的医院或相关领域找到工作。
The LaGuardia program has created a pipeline for employers such as Northwell. “These jobs used to be much more difficult to fill,” said Alyssa Cugini, who oversees quality and improvements for Northwell’s sterile-processing program. “There’s just not enough people out there who have done the clinical work.”
LaGuardia 项目为北威尔等雇主建立了人才输送渠道。“这些职位以前很难填补，”负责北威尔无菌处理项目质量和改进的艾莉莎·库吉尼说。“外面没有足够多做过临床工作的人员。”
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