LA's 20 hottest jobs that don't require a bachelor's degree

If you work in nursing, information technology, or you're an electrician, your job is safe and in-demand.

That's one of the findings from a new report from the Center for a Competitive Workforce and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.

It identifies the top 20 "middle-skill" occupations that will be most in-demand over the coming five years. It predicts they will generate an estimated 67,000 job openings in the L.A. basin.

Here's the list:

The report also found that the region's 28 community colleges aren't producing enough trained students to fill these anticipated job openings.

Economists came to this conclusion after looking at 2014-15 community college graduate data – more specifically the number of students who completed the degrees and certificates necessary to qualify for the 20 target occupations.

Only 7,800 degrees/certificates were conferred in the 20 target occupations in Southern California during the 2014-15 school years, the study found.

If this trend continues, community colleges will only produce workers capable of filling 58 percent of the new jobs over the next five years , the report said. It concluded that these institutions need to align and grow their career education programs to secure a reliable pipeline of qualified talent.

"This report is filled with valuable data and we hope that post-secondary institutions and businesses utilize this information in meaningful ways," said Gary Toebben, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, which partnered on the report. "This data can guide decisions on investments necessary to fill existing skills gaps and help build better systems that tightly align workforce development with local business/industry need," he added.

Richard Verches, from the region’s Consortium of Community Colleges, called the report groundbreaking.

"It's driven largely by the partnership with economic development and business ... so it's not education doing it in a vacuum," he said, explaining that the findings will help community colleges steer resources to the degree programs that train students in the most in-demand occupations. 

"Without a clear understanding of what the needs are and what priority demands are in the region, we're not collectively understanding where the best investments need to be made for faculty [and] classroom infrastructure, as well as recruiting students," said Verches.