Why Blue-Collar Jobs Are in High Demand
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Here's your Money Briefing for Tuesday, February 23rd. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. The pandemic wiped out millions of jobs a year ago, and the labor market has recovered in fits and starts since then.
What jobs are included when we talk about 'blue-collar' growth?
Many people are still struggling to find work, but one area that's seen consistent growth is blue-collar jobs.
You have a lot more consumers just sitting at home ordering things on Amazon. And that is leading to job growth in these package delivery roles, warehousing roles, just anything that it takes to kind of get an item built and then delivered to a person in their home.
Coming up, we'll check in with our economics reporter, Sarah Chaney-Kambon, on why blue-collar employers are still having trouble filling positions and the prospects for continued growth. That's after the break.
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After the pandemic sent the unemployment rate to historic highs, a bright spot has emerged in the recovery. Hiring among blue-collar workers has consistently grown since the middle of last year. Our economics reporter Sarah Cheney-Kambon is with us to talk about it. Sarah, thanks for being here.
Thanks so much for having me, JR.
So this is definitely good news for the millions of blue-collar workers who lost their jobs in the last year. What areas are seeing the most growth?
We're seeing job growth in residential construction, package delivery jobs, warehousing jobs, and we're also seeing some pickup in manufacturing as well.
And what's fueling this growth?
One is the pickup in online shopping that we've seen during the pandemic. You have a lot more consumers just sitting at home ordering things on Amazon. And that is leading to job growth in these package delivery roles, warehousing roles, just anything that it takes to kind of get an item built and then delivered to a person in their home. The other factor is the strong housing market, and that's really what's been driving a lot of residential construction jobs, as well as jobs at places like building supply stores.
Yeah, online shopping has become like a new national pastime. It's hitting so many different areas of the economy.
Yes, yeah, exactly. And what's interesting is there is a lot of evidence that suggests that this acceleration in online shopping that we've seen during the pandemic is going to stick around and last even after the pandemic fades. There was a survey that technology company Pitney Bowes did that showed that consumers said they do about 59% of their shopping online now, and they expect to do 56% of it online after the pandemic ends. That compares with 39% before the coronavirus hit.
Now, you also mentioned construction and housing. We definitely have talked on the show about people moving out of cities and looking for new homes. What's the prognosis for those kinds of jobs going forward? What does the trend look like?
Why are package delivery and warehousing jobs booming during the pandemic?
Those two areas are expected to remain strong. We've seen that mortgage rates are historically low and they're expected to remain low for the foreseeable future.
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