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Ryan Lerr on WNYC Studios. Now we continue our series on workers, skilled through alternative routes, stars, skilled through alternative roots, about how Americans without four-year college degrees are finding pathways to good jobs in today's economy and the structural challenges that still stand in their way. Opportunities, too,

though. Millions of jobs in this country are open right now, especially in fields like health

care, IT, and energy, but many of the people best positioned to fill them don't even know they

exist. These aren't traditional white collar or blue collar jobs. They sit

somewhere in the middle and they can offer a good living with room for growth without requiring

a bachelor's degree. And that's the puzzle explored by Wall Street Journal reporter Lauren

Weber, who writes about workplace issues and employment. She has a recent story headline. They are

hot, upwardly mobile jobs. story headline, they are hot,

upwardly mobile jobs, here's why they are so hard to fill. And it follows people like Fatima El Adrisi, a mother of three, who now makes $34 an hour, sterilizing surgical instruments

at a New York hospital. So we'll talk with Lauren about the stories behind these so-called middle-skilled jobs

and what it says about how we train, hire, and support workers in the U.S. labor market today,

and we'll invite more of your stories in just a minute.

But hi, Lauren, welcome to WNYC.

Thank you so much for having me.

And let's start with your headline.

These jobs are hot, upwardly mobile, and hard to fill.

Can you describe what kinds of roles we're talking about beyond what I said in the intro?

Sure.

I mean, you want to look at the growing industries in this country.

And there are things like healthcare, as you mentioned, energy production,

information technology. And one thing that's, I think, very challenging to people about the labor

...