A MATTER OF

ROCHESTERNEXT.COM

DEGREESTwo-thirds of students graduating with a bache-

lor’s degree nowadays owe an average of $26,000 instudent loans, and at the same time they are facing atight job market.

Meanwhile,manyhigh-tech jobs that require sci-ence, technology, engineering and math (STEM)skills go unfilled even though they require no morethan a two-year degree offered atmany public com-munity colleges.

“There certainly is strong and growing demandfor thoseoccupations in theeconomy,and thesupplytypically lags behind the demand that is out there,”said JamesRoss, a labormarket analyst for theNewYork State Labor Department.

According to a report released last month by theBrookings Institution in Washington, D.C., half ofthe 26million STEM jobs in theUnited States do notrequire a four-year college degree, but pay $53,000onaverage—10percentmore than jobswith similareducation requirements.

In the Rochester area, there are about 98,200STEM jobs, which accounts for about 21 percent ofthe total local labor pool, according to Brookings.

MCC on the job

Local STEM jobs requiring a bachelor’s degreeor more pay an average of about $81,200. Jobs thatrequireabachelor’sdegree include:Softwaredevel-opers, physicians, engineers, financial analysts andpharmacists.

Those requiring an associate’s degree or less payanaverageof about $50,000. STEMjobs that requireless than a four-year degree include: Registerednurses, machinists, electrical technicians, and res-piratory therapists.

The average annual pay for all non-STEM jobs inthe region is about $37,700, according to the Brook-ings’ report.

STEM careers have been a hot topic lately.During the 2012 presidential campaign, bothma-

Democrat and Chronicle Sunday, July 7, 2013

Len LaCara Business Editor (585) 258-2416llacara@democratandchronicle.com

Len LaCara

A reader stopped me the other dayand asked, “With all the new technologyin the world, what did I believe was themost effective tool to increase one’sproductivity and efficiency?”

After thinking about it for a moment,I asked him if he was familiar with thework of Ivy Lee. He said no and asked,“Where does he work? Apple, Google,LinkedIn?” I said no. He continued; “Ishe an app designer, a professor, or abusiness consultant?” I said none of theabove. He kept going; “Does he live inNew York or Silicon Valley?” I saidneither, but if you will slow down I’lltell you his story.

I told him that Ivy Lee died in 1934;the reader gave me a look of bewilder-ment. In the 1920s, steel magnateCharles Schwab paid Lee the equivalent

of more than $300,000 in today’s dollarsfor a tool that increased the produc-tivity and efficiency of Schwab and hismanagement team.

Curious, the reader said, “What isit?” I told him: Schwab, who was run-ning Bethlehem Steel, the second larg-est steel company at the time, met withLee, an efficiency expert. Lee told himhe could increase the company’s effi-ciency if he was allowed to meet witheach executive for 15 minutes.

Howmuch would it cost? Schwabasked. Nothing, Lee replied — unless itworked. After three months, Schwabcould send Lee whatever the executivethought the advice was worth.

After Schwab agreed, Lee gave himthe following directions:

1. List the six most important thingsyou have to do tomorrow.

2. Number them in order of impor-tance.

3. Take the paper out tomorrowmorning. Start with 1 and stay with ituntil completed.

4. Only then go to 2 and repeat untilthe end of day.

5. Unfinished tasks can be reprior-itized and rolled over to the next day.

The reader looked at me and said,“The to-do list?”

Yup.With all the advancement in technol-

ogy, I still find the effective use of aprioritized to-do list the most valuableway of making sure you successfullyaccomplish your goals, on time.

I indicated to the reader that thisassumes people have actually writtendown their goals. I have observed thatfewer than 5 percent of people do so.

Well as the story goes, Schwab wasso impressed by the results of deploy-ing the prioritized to-do list, he sent Leea check for $25,000 and indicated it wasthe single most valuable piece of busi-ness advice he ever received.

I contend that Ivy Lee’s tool is aspowerful and relevant today as it wasnearly 100 years ago.

So let’s get to work.

Old-fashioned ‘to-do list’ continues to get it done

PCBURKE61@gmail.com

PatrickBurkeOUTSIDE INSIGHTS

THINKSTOCK PHOTO

You don’t needfour years ofcollege to findgood-payingjobs inscience andtechnology

Bennett J. LoudonStaff writer WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Efforts are underway to educate students and trainworkers to fill a large number of jobs in science,technology, engineering, and math fields expected tobecome available as the local workforce ages out.

GO DEEPER ON DIGITAL

Click on this story atDemocratandChronicle.com for avideo about Sydor Optics in Chili,where many workers have STEMjobs and only associate’s degrees.Also, go online for galleries and PDF’s of the HiddenSTEM Economy report by the Brookings Institution,along with salary and growth information on somepopular jobs in science, technology, engineering andmath fields.

See DEGREES, Page 5E

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