Paul Davidson

USA TODAY

The nature of work has changed radically in recent decades. Jobs that require social and analytical skills and a college education grow much faster than those that demand physical or manual prowess, a Pew study says.

Pay for these higher-level jobs increases far more sharply, and the shift disproportionately benefits women, according to the study of Labor Department data by Pew Research Center in association with the Markle Foundation.

Americans are keenly aware of the trend and have gotten more education and training in response, but many say they’re not keeping pace, according to Pew.

“The ground beneath workers has shifted considerably,” says Kim Parker, Pew’s director of social trend research. “Job growth has been concentrated in occupations that demand more preparation, and the public is scrambling to stay on top of things.”

From 1980 to 2015, employment in jobs requiring higher levels of social, communication or management skills jumped 83% to 90 million, the study said. Payrolls in analytically oriented jobs increased 77% to 86 million. Jobs in these categories, which frequently overlap, include chief executives, civil engineers, teachers and nurses.

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Jobs that involve more physical skills, such as carpenters, welders, dry-cleaning workers and factory machine operators, grew just 18% to 57 million during that period.

Similarly, the number of jobs requiring at least an associate’s degree, one or two years of experience and some on-the-job training has increased 68%, while those that entail less preparation have grown 31%. The share of adults with at least a bachelor's degree has nearly doubled the past 35 years, to 33% from 17%.

Higher-skilled workers see the benefits in their paychecks. From 1990 to 2015, average hourly wages in analytically oriented jobs climbed 19% to $27, after adjusting for inflation, the study said. Hourly pay in jobs involving more social skills increased 15% to $26. Earnings for physical jobs rose just 7% to $18.

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The trend has helped women make big gains. Women made up 47% of the workforce last year but filled 52% of jobs requiring higher analytical skills and 55% of those demanding above-average social skills. As a result, the median inflation-adjusted salaries of working women increased from $30,402 to $40,000 over the past 35 years. Median pay for men dipped to $50,000 from $51,684.

Workers are responding. Fifty-four percent say it will be essential for them to get training and develop new skills through their careers, and 45% say they got extra training the past 12 months.

Thirty-five percent, including nearly three in 10 college graduates, say they don’t have the education and training they need to get ahead at work. Just 16% of Americans say a four-year degree prepares students very well for a well-paying job.

Those with the most qualifications feel the most urgency to update them, and that may continue to leave behind those with less training. Sixty-three percent of Americans with at least a bachelor’s degree say they’ll need to keep advancing their skills, compared with 45% of those without a college education.

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Other findings:

• 60% of workers say it’s not likely they’ll lose their job in the next 12 months, but a similar share say their jobs are less secure than they were 20 to 30 years ago.

• Workers ages 16 to 24 earn 11% less than that age group did in 1980 after inflation. By contrast, median pay is up 10% for 55- to 64-year-olds and 37% for those ages 65 and older.

• About two-thirds of Republicans say the growing number of immigrant workers in the USA hurts American workers. Thirty percent of Democrats say that. Nearly six in 10 Democrats say the trend helps American workers.

• Americans work longer hours. The average workweek was 38.7 hours last year, up from 38.1 hours in 1980.

• They’re more loyal. The median job tenure was 4.6 years in 2014, up from 3.5 years in 1983. Pew largely attributes the trend to the rising share of older workers but also to the Great Recession, which made it tougher for workers to switch jobs.