DENVER – Colorado has the fourth-best online labor market in the nation for college graduates, according to a new report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.
Using job ads posted online, the report ranks states by the number of jobs per college-educated worker overall, and within specific career fields.
Tony Carnevale, the center’s director and the report’s lead author, says the large number of STEM-related job listings – science, technology, engineering and math – mean degrees in these areas are assets for job seekers.
“The STEM jobs are very powerfully represented, as are jobs in business, education jobs, health care jobs – are the four categories that tend to dominate the employer job ads,” he said. “This is data from the horse’s mouth – this is the employers telling us what they’re looking for.”
The report says 60 to 70 percent of all job openings are advertised online. The top occupations advertised in Colorado are for registered nurses, software and app developers and other computer-related positions.
Carnevale added that jobs posted online may be disproportionately aimed at college graduates because they’re more likely to own personal computers and have access to the Internet at home. He said 46 percent of all online job listings in Colorado are seeking degree-holders.
The report found that 31 percent of Colorado online ads are for managerial and professional jobs, and the fastest growing job sector is health care.
Carnavale noted that job candidates who search online also find jobs 25 percent faster than those who do not.
