What are the best jobs for 2014?
U.S. News and World Report released its list of the 100 Best Jobs in 2014 and it comes just as the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent in December, which is the lowest number since October 2008.
This year was the first that the publication's number one spot did not go to a job in the health care industry, but instead was a software developer. The others in the top five were computer systems analyst, dentist, nurse practitioner and pharmacist.Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer for U.S. News and World Report, joined the “CBS This Morning” co-hosts to discuss the list and why there is a shift in professions from years past.
“We’ve been seeing a shift, not so much away from health care because health care is a very, very good field to be in for many different kinds of jobs, but the technology jobs are beginning to move ahead of that in some ways,” he said. “Software developer – everything you have has software in it, mobile phones require a whole new way of development.”
Kelly said that these technology occupations are going “through the roof” and are also very high-paying jobs with a median salary of $90,000.
To develop the list, the company considered hiring demand, employment growth, median salary, future job prospects, unemployment rate, and the occupation's estimated stress level and work-life balance. The publication ranked the best jobs in six sectors, including business, technology, construction, creative fields, health care, and social services.
“We look at about 10 different factors,” he said. “We are studying Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the government data, we’re looking at the projections – how many of these jobs will there be 10 years from now? How many jobs are open now? What’s the employment rate for those jobs?”
Kelly also said that how happy the job makes the worker does matter and they factor that in by looking at stress levels and work-life balance.
“Some of these jobs look great on paper, but boy, you earn the money,” he said. “As we do with a lot of our rankings it’s a mix and we try to give you a top 10, top 100, but then it’s always important, what’s the best job for you?”
He said that an interesting thing about their list and numbers is that it’s really “about the future of the economy.”
“You can’t outsource your dental care to China,” he said. “You can outsource manufacturing to China as we’ve done.”