Calculating Labor
Sunday, September 2, 2012 at 06:10PM
To celebrate Labor Day, I’m highlighting the results of two studies done by 24/7 Wall Street on the best and worst occupations in terms of job growth over the next ten years. There are surprises (at least to me) on both lists.
The number of jobs related to operating the equipment that makes oil refineries work is supposed to drop by 14% over the next ten years. Demand is on the upswing for petroleum engineers who can work on complex extraction methods for oil and gas.
Work related to printing snagged two of the top ten job declining spots. Needless to say postal workers were also high on the list. What did surprise me were people who work building semiconductors also got a top job losing spot. In that case robots are better and getting more cost effective than people in these jobs. Factory workers being replaced by technology also made the losers list for industries that assemble products with electrical parts and telecommunications.
While there’s no trend I’ve heard of regarding people giving up wearing clothes, jobs related to clothing are disappearing. Textile and sewing machine operators along with people who work with leather are all listed as declining in numbers in the mid 20% area or higher.
Generally the highest growth outlook job types were not what I expected. What did meet expectations is that math and science capabilities help you find work. People who have the skills to monitor and investigate sources of pollution have no trouble finding a job now and shouldn’t be worried about the future. Being good at math will get you into 3 of the occupations on the high growth list: actuary, statistician and market research analyst.
I didn’t see this one coming –demand for Optometrists is supposed to grow more than 68% in the next ten years. (Pun intended.) Demand is driven by a combination of the aging population needing more services, and many people now in the profession looking to take their glasses off and retire.
While many claim technology can do this better, interpreters and translators still get jobs and should continue to do so. Interestingly the forecast of a 69% increase in job openings over the next ten years includes an assumption that one of your fluent languages is English.
Here are the growth jobs that really surprise me: Insulation workers, Glaziers and Pest Control workers. Who thought I’d want to talk with my son about being an exterminator when he grows up?