With unemployment down, where are the jobs?
By Gary KaplanFebruary 2011
As previously reported, overall, the economy rounded out 2010 with 1.1 million jobs added, the best year for hiring since 2007. Job growth is still trending upward, albeit very slowly, with an average of 128,000 jobs a month added in the last quarter of the year.
Yet since returning to the office after the New Year, the majority of my time has been spent meeting and counseling senior level individuals who were let go around the holidays as companies continued to improve their bottom lines.
So where do you find work? Pursuing certain occupations will definitely provide job seekers with a more fortunate and fruitful return than others. If you're looking for a new job this year, consider honing your skills and applying for a position in one of the following areas, all of which are expected to experience growth this year:
Health care and academia, the perennial job rockets, will lead the pack. Professional and business services will do well too. According to a study by Moody's Analytics, professional and business services will create some 119,000 jobs this year for bachelor's-degree holders. That's more than health care and education will create in the same category. Health care, colleges, and universities will generate more jobs for graduate-degree holders than will business services.
From where we sit as executive recruiters, we know the need for fundraising professionals has never been greater. Placing a qualified and passionate individual in a mission-driven organization can make the difference between a non-profit succeeding or closing its doors, especially in today's environment. As long as non-profits, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations have a strong need to raise dollars, the opportunities for fundraising executives, also known as development or advancement directors, who can deliver excellent results, will remain plentiful.
Those working in the technology sector; network-systems and data analysts are the second-fastest-growing occupations in the U.S. after biomedical engineers. No surprise, as companies have been ramping up their spending on software and computer services. For technology companies, it seems, the most recent recession did not exist.
Web developers, artists, animators, designers and programmers, and computer software engineers are also in high demand--as the world becomes more dependent on technology, we also become more dependent on those who create it. According to The Conference Board, at the end of 2010, the number of advertised vacancies for computer and mathematical science professionals was the highest since April 2008.
There is still a growing demand for cyber security professionals not just in government, but in all industry sectors, including healthcare and financial services. As organizations increasingly focus on protecting critical infrastructure and meeting regulatory requirements, they create a heightened need for qualified information security professionals. This has resulted in a 69% increase in information security jobs compared to last year. High growth areas include network security, application security, forensics, and security engineer positions.
Other areas showing job growth include accountants, financial advisors, and sales managers, all playing crucial roles in the corporate or personal rebuilding process.
The medical arena will continue to be strong this year as well. Among the top contenders are occupational therapists, registered nurses, dental hygienists, and physical therapist assistants.
One sad fact about this job recovery is that it will be cruelly uneven. It will favor, more than ever, the college educated over blue-collar workers and it will favor those who work in the private sector over those who work in the public sector. Moody's Analytics predicts state and local governments will shed 150,000 jobs this year to try to plug the gaping holes in their budgets.
What's more, the "he-cession," as some have labeled it, will remain. Men represent 60% of the long-term unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The construction industry lost 2 million jobs in the past three years and isn't poised to restore all that many in 2011.
Likewise, the domestic auto industry is still struggling to determine its manpower needs in relation to its manufacturing capacity to drive its market share. That means recovery will remain in low gear across the industrial Midwest.
Women will still have the edge over men as they are better educated and dominate the parts of the employment universe that are expanding the most (health and education). Women's share of these jobs will likely increase, given that women are earning more college degrees than men, by a 3-to-2 margin. Women already hold 51.5% of high-paying management and professional positions.
And finally, the payoff for earning a degree will grow larger. According to Moody's, workers with a graduate, bachelor's or associate degree or even some college experience will get an increasing share of the jobs created. In 2011 the better educated will control 60.1% of all new jobs; by 2015, the projection rises to 66.4%, and that's even after construction bounces back.
A tough economy is tough on everyone. For better or worse, the current job market is changing, so plan, practice, think creatively about alternative markets or opportunities, and be patient. It may not seem soon enough, but you will find that new job.
