Decades emphasizing higher-level academics have created a Grand Canyon-sized skill gap in U.S. industries needing workers. But the tide is turning, and if you follow the money, you can build wealth with innovative companies at the center of this revolution.
Let’s start with the basics.
If you’ve been keeping up, you know more & more high schoolers are foregoing traditional four-year universities and colleges for quicker and cheaper alternatives…
Many of which are aimed at teaching highly in-demand skills.
But that’s just one part of the puzzle.
Here’s more material relative to this obscure investment opportunity:
- My research shows there’ve been one million fewer student enrollments in college since the onset of COVID-19, which spread around the globe like wildfire.
- New findings from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center confirm only community colleges grew in enrollment through the most recent semester.
- Over 75% of high schoolers now say that a two-year or technical certification is enough, and only 41% believe they must have a 4-year degree to get a good job.
As someone who barely graduated high school but still built a multi-million-dollar biz, I can’t blame them. As colleges increase tuition costs, saddling more graduates with student loan debt, more people question whether a degree is worth the time and money.
Years ago, you couldn’t get in the door for an interview without a degree. But today, a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Doctorate no longer holds the same value they used to.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says occupations requiring an associate’s degree will grow faster than those requiring a traditional 4-year bachelor’s degree.
Add technical certifications, trade schools, and online programs that cost less and take less time —- and you can see why the gap between traditional education and gainful employment might keep growing over the next few decades.
In Other words, You Can Have a 200/IQ & an Ivy League
Education and Still Not Be Qualified To Fill One Of The
693,000 Job Openings In The Manufacturing Industry…
Many industries suffered a major setback after losing roughly 1.4 million jobs at the onset of the pandemic. Manufacturers now operate in the hub of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with many adopting robotics, machine learning, and AI, among other innovative technologies. Still, I don’t think machines will replace everyone…
That’s why having the necessary skills for human-machine interactions is more important than ever. For production workers, this isn’t the need for science, technology, engineering, or math degrees but the ability to program machines on a plant floor.
Employers need people with computer skills to program machines for a new job or interact with manufacturing software. Suppose the manufacturing industry can’t get the computer-savvy workers they need from the tech space, that’s where the one sector I’ll discuss below takes a large bite out of the technology industry’s outsize market share.
The Obvious Winners in The Fourth Industrial Revolution
Apprenticeships in trades were highly valued in Europe and young America.
But unlike WWI and WW2, when schools trained students for specific jobs related to national defense, or my high school days when we were offered classes in shorthand, typing, woodworking (my favorite), sewing, cooking, bookkeeping, auto mechanics, and other practical skills… one of the apparent winners today will be A.I.-savvy trade schools… Along with graduates, companies desperate to fill skilled positions and investors smart enough to buy shares of companies that match the two camps.
Here’s a viable player in this field to consider that’s sure to supply skilled workers to several industries soon, especially in IT and manufacturing:
Universal Technical Institute (UTI).
UTI is a $219 million company in the consumer discretionary sector.
It caters to students wanting careers as automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle, and marine technicians in the U.S. Plus, it operates under brands such as Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute, and NASCAR Technical Institute.
Students can also enroll in manufacturer-specific training programs and manufacturer – or dealer-sponsored training at one of its 13 campuses and earn a welding diploma.
Enrollment is up by nearly 12% compared to last year.
Revenues have increased by 5.5% to $79 million.
And long-time shareholders have been rewarded with a 5-year return of 105.43%.
This means every $100 invested in January 2018 is worth $205.
Doubling your money in five years may not sound like news that makes you run to the beach and dance naked, but most people can’t even double their money in ten years.
This is precisely why I chose to write about this today.
If you weren’t thinking in this direction before, I hope this gives you a good sense of what’s possible when you pay attention to megatrends in America’s job market.
In UTI’s case, the logic is simple.
Less money, less time, and more jobs will ensure continued growth in enrollment for trade schools. Companies meeting these new education demands stand to profit for many years, and so do investors with the savvy to buy shares in their stocks.
If you’re considering owning shares in the Universal Technical Institute (UTI), it might be a good idea to make up your mind before their earnings call on December 11, 2023.
I hope this helps you on a long-term investment horizon.
And if you want to allocate a small portion of your portfolio to investments with shorter-term gains in any of the seven asset classes I cover for my private clients…
See how to get the biggest short-term gains on low-risk, high-reward investments.