PITTSBURGH -- From mostly manufacturing to technology, the job market in western Pennsylvania has undergone major changes in the past 20 years.

As part of a special series on WTAE Channel 4 Action News, reporter Sheldon Ingram is taking a closer look at who calls Pittsburgh home these days -- and what the future may hold for your job.
Video: Watch Sheldon Ingram's Report

The Allegheny Conference on Community Development said there are more job openings in the Pittsburgh region right now than at other time in history.

Many of those jobs are in some form of high-tech or health care -- two industries which project the region's greatest growth over the next 10 years.

Together, tech and health are expected to generate 31,000 new jobs at a combined growth of 18 percent, and tech is the centerpiece.

"I would say this is Pittsburgh's new identity," said Audrey Russo, chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

Growth is swift and new income potential is radical in the fields of information technology, bioresearch, advanced manufacturing, education, advanced materials and cyber security.

"Those technology jobs are paying people at a higher rate of salary than the existing industries for the last 20 to 30 years here," said Russo.

Eleven percent of the current regional work force is made up of high-tech jobs, which generate almost 25 percent of the region's payroll at about $10 billion a year.

But there's a problem. The region's modest birthrate is drastically outpaced by its death rate.

Economists say that's a bad mix, which defines a declining population.

"Either our population is going to have to start rising again or it's going to put a limit on the growth our companies and our economy will see in our region," said Michael Langley, of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

Another problem is that too many people in the region are not trained to fill the harvest of high-tech jobs they apply for -- like the hundreds of people who flood into PA CareerLink.

So, the new idea is to convince school district administrators to modify their curriculums and better prepare children to take on jobs of technology. Without that effort, this region stands to suffer some significant consequences.

"Our goal is to have all 129 school districts in our 10-county region engaged," said Langley.

Job creators say a region void of technology-rich curriculums at grade-school levels is a region incapable of luring new businesses. Either put the children in the pipeline or watch job growth projections fade away for the region.

"To help them implement into their curriculum lesson plans and activities to help them become aware," said Tim Aldinger, youth program officer at the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board.

Without that effort, regional residents are left behind and new bodies migrate to fill the gaps -- whatever it takes to keep the technology renaissance.

"Part of our responsibility and our attraction is to be recruiting externally," said Russo.

"To other regions in the country, say, 'Pittsburgh is a great place. It's the most livable city,'" Langley said.

PA CareerLink posts 16,000 job openings a year in Allegheny County alone, and it can direct anyone who is interested in job training.
More: CareerLink Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Technology Council posts 1,500 job openings a month.
More: Pittsburgh Technology Council Career Center

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