Hot Jobs in 2010

If you're thinking about switching careers, or you're a college student choosing a career for the first time, then it's important to understand what the job market will look like in the future.  The forces of supply and demand are always at work, and picking a hot job gives you a better chance of staying employed as well as commanding a premium salary.

This publication is going to run through research conducted by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The results of that research were released to the public in December 2009, and the study focuses on job trends from 2008 through 2018.  The study is refreshed every two years, and provides useful information on both workforce demographics and employment trends in 2010 and beyond.

Job Opportunities

The future opportunities identified by this study start with the Census Bureau's population projections.  This information is the basis for the demographic and workforce size projections.  Layered on top of this information are economic data that are used to derive future estimates of the Gross Domestic Product.

These higher-level projections are then used to estimate future market demand for products and services, which are subsequently used to derive industry output and employment statistics.  Once these future employment levels are quantified, job growth is extrapolated from existing occupational levels.

Workforce Demographics

The United States population growth rate is projected to slow down over the next ten years.  The lower growth in population, along with a lower rate of workforce participation, will result in an overall decrease in the workforce growth rate from 1.1% (1998 through 2008) to 0.8% (2008 through 2018).

The labor force is expected to grow in diversity too, as higher birth rates and increased immigration by Hispanics and Asians adds to those populations.  By 2018, the number of Asians in the workplace is expected to increase by 29.8% from 2008 levels.  Hispanics in the workplace are expected to grow by 33.1%.

The composition of the American workforce will also be a bit older in 2010.  There were 27.9 million workers age 55 and older in 2008.  That number is expected to increase by 43.0% to 39.8 million workers in 2018.

Hot Jobs 2010 and Beyond

In the year 2010 and beyond, two occupational groups are projected to supply more than half of the new jobs growth rate.  The professional and business services, along with healthcare and social assistance industry, are expected to add nearly 8.2 million jobs from 2008 through 2018.  Manufacturing is expected to take a downturn, losing over 1.2 million jobs in that same timeframe.

Within those industries, just two occupations - registered nurses and home health aides - are projected to add nearly 1.1 million jobs.  The other "hot" jobs, as measured by the growth in the number of jobs, appear in the table below.

Top Ten Jobs in Terms of Growth

While the above table tells us how many new jobs will be created from 2008 through 2018, there's another way to look at the top job prospects.  The table below provides insights into the occupations that will experience the largest number of job openings.  This includes both the growth in the number of new jobs, plus the openings created when an existing job is in need of a replacement due to employee turnover.

Top Ten Jobs in Terms of Openings Created

A third way to look at this employment information is via the growth rate of the job.  Instead of defining a hot job as those positions with the largest number of openings, here it's defined as the percentage increase in the need for a particular job type.  For example, by 2018, the data tells us there will be 72.0% more biomedical engineers than there were in 2008.

Top Ten Fastest Growing Jobs

Finally, you might be wondering what kind of training or education is required for the above occupations.  Of the 15.2 million jobs that will be created, 27.4% of them only require short-term on-the-job training.  That's because many of these are cashier, waiter / waitress, and retail jobs.  Interestingly, the next highest group will be those professions requiring a Bachelor's degree.

New Jobs by Education / Training

If you're wondering how much these jobs might pay, then you should probably take a look at our article that talks about the highest paying jobs.  There you can cross reference the above positions with the salaries these jobs might pay.

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