Employment Trends In The Future - Job Growth

In my last two blog posts we looked at the role of technology in changes to the economy and how it affects employment. Now, let’s apply these discussions and analyze employment projections from the Bureau of Labor statistics for 2010-2020. Today we’ll look at projected job growth and next we’ll look at projected job decline.

To begin, a disclaimer. The term fastest growing refers to percent changes in the number of jobs and largest growing refers to numerical changes in the number of jobs. If over the next ten years we add 10,000 positions as cashiers and optometrists, they will both be growing larger at the same rate, but the number of optometrists will be growing faster because there are obviously less optometrists than cashiers to begin with.

The fastest growing jobs list shows how demographics affect employment trends. As people live longer and the population ages overall, more workers will be needed in health care. A notable trend is that all of these positions are “hands-on.” It is difficult to imagine computers replacing these positions. Of these positions, only two require a Bachelor’s Degree. The salaries are mediocre, with only Biomedical Engineers standing out.

The jobs that will have the largest growth are a diverse mix. Many of these jobs aren’t growing all that fast, in fact, most of these are growing much slower than those on the previous chart. These jobs are adding large numbers of positions because they are so prevalent to begin with, such as Salespersons and Office Clerks. These positions are also “hands-on” and unlikely to be replaced by computers (except perhaps Postsecondary Teachers). The education requirements are notably low; the top 9 positions don’t even require a Bachelor’s Degree. Other than Nurses and Postsecondary Teachers, salaries are low.


Landon J. Latham
Career Educator