The federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 includes several references to High Skill, High Wage, or High Demand occupations.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Labor Market Statistics annually produces a statewide High Skill / High Wage / High Demand list of occupations.  High Skill/High Wage occupations are further defined by pre-selected wage criteria.

The statewide list is referred to as the Statewide Demand Occupations List (DOL). To be eligible for the DOL, an occupation must meet criteria for projected annual openings, projected annual employment growth rate, entry wage, and mean wage. In addition, an occupation must have a minimum entry training requirement of postsecondary education up to and including bachelor’s degree. The required annual growth rate is updated annually and is equal to the projected overall annual growth rate in the latest Florida statewide employment forecast. The required entry and mean wages are updated annually by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index. In addition, two alternate DOLs, based on different training requirements, are also generated: a “Bachelor’s Degree” DOL and a “Master’s or Higher Degree” DOL. The alternate DOLs also have criteria for projected annual openings, projected annual employment growth rate, entry wage, and mean wage.

The table below combines the statewide DOL with the “Bachelor’s Degree” DOL and the “Master’s or Higher Degree” DOL.  Thus, all of the occupations listed below meet Florida's High Demand criteria. The table also indicates which occupations meet the Florida High Skill/High Wage criteria.

For more information, please contact Peter Ring at (850) 245-7283 or peter.ring@deo.myflorida.com