Expert analysis suggests a double-edged sword for college graduates in the coming decade when it comes to which job openings will likely be available.
First and foremost, no one should expect a job recovery any time soon. In the past 2 years the U.S. has lost a staggering 7 million jobs. Though unemployment has leveled off a bit in recent months, it will take at least half of this decade to get employment back where it was.
Top Jobs in the New Decade
Below are the top 20 jobs on the BLS’s breakdown of the 30 current occupations we’ll likely see the most growth in over the next 8 years.
1. Registered nurses
2. Home health aides
3. Customer service representatives
4. Food preparation and serving workers
5. Personal and home care aides
6. Retail salespersons
7. Office clerks
8. Accountants
9. Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants
10. Postsecondary teachers
11. Construction laborers
12. Elementary school teachers
13. Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer
14. Landscaping and grounds keeping workers
15. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks
16. Executive secretaries and administrative assistants
17. Management analysts
18. Computer software engineers, applications
19. Receptionists and information clerks
20. Carpenters
Clearly, a nursing degree is your best bet for job security in the years ahead. In fact, the outlook is very good for jobs in the health care and service industry sectors in general.
Though many of the top 10 occupations likely to see significant growth in the next few year are considered low-skill, low wage jobs, there is, and has been, a clear rise in highly-skilled jobs as well.
This is good news for many college graduates, but not so great for our economy overall. Many economists are already warning about the decline in mid-level occupations, like many of the manufacturing jobs that are being lost to workers overseas.
Other Strong Job Sectors for 2010 and Beyond
It should come as no surprise that Tech and Green industry jobs are also projected to be on the rise over the next 10 years. Some speculate that green industries could revive manufacturing here in the U.S. and be a big job creator for workers at all skill levels for years to come.
Scholarships.com recently reported that more colleges are offering green majors, and in 2009 alone more than 100 majors, minors and certifications have been created relating to green energy.
For years there has been a steady rise in “green” occupations and it’s estimated that green and environmental jobs will grow almost 4 times faster than occupations in other industries.
It may have been the recession itself or just real need, but either way the finance services sector also looks set to remain fairly steady in the coming years. Considering that many jobs in finance were lost during the recession, job growth may prove to be modest.