Scoping Out Your Long-Term Career Prospects
by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman
For career changers and college graduates seeking jobs, information on our country's future need for particular types of workers is critical.
If you're entering college, by the time you graduate there may be a slump in demand for jobs in fields now at the top of the list.
The 2004 forecast, for example, was for job openings for thousands of nurses. But with the economic downturn, those positions have been filled by inactive or retired nurses re-entering the workforce.
While engineering is expected to grow by 72 percent, it is mostly biomedical engineering -- developing and testing health care innovations like artificial organs or imaging systems.
Health care dominates the list of fastest growing jobs, with 11 of the top 20 slots. Likewise, psychologists will be in demand; growth will be fastest in industrial and organizational psychology.
The number of women in the labor force will grow slightly faster than the number of men. The male labor force is projected to increase by 7.5 percent percent from 2008 to 2018, compared with 9 percent for females.
The Wall Street Journal recommends the Department of Labor's latest 10-year forecast compilation for demand, pay, and competition for more than 300 jobs in 45 categories -- great for a long-term outlook.
