FCSM, October 2022

Skill Profiles and Portability of Credentials 

for the Technical Workforce

Social & Decision Analytics Division 

Biocomplexity Institute & Initiative

Cesar Montalvo
• The National Science Board estimates the US will have 3.4 million unfilled skilled 

technical workforce (STW) jobs in 2022. 

• The U.S. has lost pace in skills strength, 3rd in 2018 to 8th 2019. 

• Technical jobs contribute to U.S. competitiveness and growth: 4th main source of 

competitiveness for the according to the World Economic Forum. 

Why the Skilled Technical Workforce?

How is the Skilled Technical Workforce Defined?

• Individuals without a bachelor’s degree but with a post-secondary nondegree 

credential or training that provides them with STEM knowledge and skills.

• Technical was defined by Rothwell (2015) using 14 of the 33 Knowledge domains in 

the O*NET the Content Model. 

National Science Board (NSB). (2019). The skilled technical workforce: Crafting America’s science & engineering enterprise.

Rothwell, J. T. (2015). Defining skilled technical work. Available at SSRN 2709141.

https://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/pgasite/documents/webpage/pga_167744.pdf

References:
Research Questions

How do technical skills and experience shape the 

salary returns for skill-intensive occupations ?

What are the nondegree credentials that 

allow skilled technical workers to redefine 

career pathways in manufacturing?
Data Sources

sponsored by the 

U.S. Department of Labor

33 million job-ads in U.S. (2019)

Approximately 1 million job-ads 

in Virginia

We used the BGT skill taxonomy 

Skill Cluster Family (28)

Skill Cluster (657)

Skill (14888)

Specialized Skills

• Certifications and Licenses

• Classification of the 

Manufacturing Career Cluster

Classification: 

Baseline - Specialized - Software
SOC 

Code

Major Occupation 

Group

BGT 

Job-ads

Jobs 

Requiring 

Certifications

Prop.

Jobs 

Requiring 

Skills

Prop.

45 Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 28,474 3,601 0.126 24,631 0.87

55 Military 33,668 3,399 0.101 30,329 0.90

23 Legal 215,703 54,353 0.252 197,280 0.91

19 Life, Physical, and Social Science 306,982 50,812 0.166 298,768 0.97

33 Protective Service 396,027 73,433 0.185 355,951 0.9

47 Construction and Extraction 397,876 54,550 0.137 374,985 0.94

21 Community and Social Service 413,272 150,987 0.365 393,472 0.95

37 Building & Cleaning & Maintenance 588,126 24,099 0.041 544,331 0.93

31 Healthcare Support 719,946 414,460 0.576 695,012 0.97

39 Personal Care and Service 738,181 156,165 0.212 658,413 0.89

27 Arts, Design, Entertain, Sports, Media 762,396 50,493 0.066 721,936 0.95

51 Production 885,630 67,939 0.077 805,620 0.91

25 Educational Instruction and Library 952,099 259,704 0.273 899,598 0.94

17 Architecture and Engineering 952,684 170,016 0.178 925,024 0.97

49 Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 1,083,983 199,003 0.184 1,039,927 0.96

35 Food Preparation and Serving Related 1,562,503 176,238 0.113 1,326,954 0.85

13 Business and Financial Operations 2,154,997 414,333 0.192 2,104,298 0.98

53 Transportation and Material Moving 2,581,280 1,468,830 0.569 1,591,442 0.62

43 Office and Administrative Support 3,473,115 206,055 0.059 3,357,440 0.97

41 Sales and Related 3,491,433 348,038 0.100 3,401,352 0.97

29 Healthcare Practitioners and Technical 3,552,989 2,340,444 0.659 3,348,942 0.94

15 Computer and Mathematical 3,572,232 519,770 0.146 3,523,332 0.99

11 Management 3,624,851 695,197 0.192 3,502,697 0.97

NA NA 1,371,251 123,025 0.09 1,286,739 0.94

TOTAL 33,859,698 8,024,944 0.237 31,408,473 0.93

USA: Jobs requiring

Certifications

& Skills 

in BGT job-ads

by 

Major

Occupation

Groups

Skills 

vs 

Certifications

Source: Burning Glass Technologies, 2019
Skill-Salary formation: 

Weighted least squares (WLS) model 

with fixed effects

Methods
Case Study

VA GO 1 VA GO 5 VA GO 7

Energy Shipbuilding and Repair Computer Services

Minerals Logistics Cybersecurity

Advanced Manufacturing Ag Port Operations Consulting

Food Manufacturing Advanced Manufacturing Finance and Engineering

Beverages Water Technologies Research Organizations

Source: Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board

Regional Priority Industry Clusters for VA GO Regions 1, 5, and 7

Virginia Growth & Opportunity Regions 

GO Virginia is an initiative to create more high-paying 

jobs by incentivizing collaborations between business, 

education, and government to diversify and strengthen 

the economy.

FCSM is here
Technical skills are defined by linking STW occupations to BGT skill cluster families

1 BGT skill hierarchy 

2

Skill Cluster Family 

(28)

3 Identify technical skills of the Major Occupation Groups Construction and 

Extraction (62 of 65 occupations are in the STW) and Production all 114 

occupations are in the STW 

Proportion of skillsProportion of skills

Source: Burning Glass Technologies, 2019

Information Technology Web Development Active Server Pages

Skill 

(14,888)

Skill Cluster 

(657)
9

Source: Burning Glass Technologies, 2019

• Technical skills have the potential to 

increase salaries by 36% in Virginia

• 1 year of additional experience 

increases salary by 6%

•VA GO Region 7 has the largest salary 

premium at 22% 

Key take-aways

Salary Returns
10

Source: Burning Glass Technologies, 2019

• Experience provides a premium for technical skills in VA GO Regions 5 and 

7 this is not the case in Region 1 where technical skills due to the skills 

needed for the mineral and energy sectors.

Key take-aways

GO Region by Major Occupation Group
11

Source: Burning Glass Technologies, 2019

Construction: Salary Returns & BGT Skills clusters in VA

Coefficient 

Estimate

Confidence Interval Significant returns 

reflect the 

progression from 

blue-collar skills 

(carpentry and plumbing) 

more management 

skills 

(project and people 

management). 

Key take-aways
12

Source: Burning Glass Technologies, 2019

Production: Salary Returns & BGT Skills Clusters in VA BGT Skill Clusters

Coefficient 

Estimate

Confidence Interval

There is a clear distinction 

between cognitive skills, 

especially IT and 

management related skills, 

which provide significant 

salary returns than 

traditional blue-collar skills. 

Since none of the 114 

production occupations 

require a bachelor’s degree 

these IT skills require just a 

non-degree credential.

Key take-aways
Skill “Genome” Visualization

Skill Cluster Family

Source: Burning Glass Technologies, 2019 uva-bi-sdad.github.io/stw-website/

Dashboard

Health Care Customer 

and Client 

Support

Business Sales Finance

Administration

Supply Chain 

and Logistics

Information 

Technology

Information Technology Business

Finance Sales

Health Care Administration

Analysis

Customer 

and Client 

Support

Marketing and 

Public 

Relations
14 Certifications Landscape

Source: Burning Glass Technologies, 2019 uva-bi-sdad.github.io/stw-website/

Dashboard

Region 7 Region 5

Region 4 Region 2 Region 9

Region 8

Region 6

3 1
Network Analysis: Portability and Career Pathways

Medical 

Equipment

Repairer

Mechanical 

Engineering 

Technician

Electronics 

Repairer

Mixing 

Machine

Power Setters

Plant

Operator

Forklift

Operator

Certification

Career Progression

(higher salary)
Outdoor Power 

Equipment & 

Other Small Engine 

Mechanics

Ophthalmic 

Laboratory 

Technicians

Cleaning, Washing & 

Metal Pickling Equipment 

Operators & Tenders

Photographic 

Process 

Workers

Plant & Systems 

Operators, All 

other

Jewelers &

Precious Stone 

& Metal 

Workers

Medical 

Appliance 

Technicians Coin Vending & 

Amusement 

Machine Repairers

Manufacturing 

Occupation 

Cluster

Certification 

Network

Source: O*NET and CareerOneStop https://dspgtools.shinyapps.io/network_analysis/

Dashboard
17

Acknowledgements

Vicki Lancaster Leonel Siwe Haleigh Tomlin Joanna Schroeder

Many thanks to our great team:

Disclaimer. This presentation provides results of exploratory research sponsored by the National Center 

for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF). This 

information is being shared to inform interested parties of ongoing activities and to encourage further 

discussion. Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of NCSES or NSF.