Over 50 years ago, a friend of ours came out of Stanfield High School and took a job at Cannon Mills. He says he was the only worker in his department with a high school diploma. The diploma gave him opportunities to move quickly into a more skilled position. But the lack of a diploma did not keep the others from an adequate, if not wholly satisfying, job and one which they could expect to keep for a lifetime. The lack of a high school diploma is no longer adequate.
Most industries require a diploma for employment.
Many require special training from a community college. The demands of business and industry change rapidly. Employees must be able to change with them or they must leave. For example, in our industry, newspapers have undergone dramatic changes in the past 20 years. We went from setting type in hot lead, one line at a time, to computers.