Fastest Growing Occupations 2007
Top 30 Jobs in the United States
Healthcare, education, technology and the environment are the four primary job categories where the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to see the fastest career growth.
Planning for a career is important, and while having an aptitude and interest in a particular industry or job classification is vital, even more important is the need to understand growth patterns of careers in order to choose a viable and growing occupation.
According to the latest 2005 figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the careers where they anticipate the most growth between 2004 and 2014 are primarily in healthcare. In fact, of the 30 fastest growing occupations, 16 are health related. Next in line is technology, education and a growing trend in the environmental field.
Not surprising, education is key for many of the fastest growing occupations, as 24 of these positions generally require a postsecondary education, an academic degree or vocational training.
Healthcare
It’s no surprise that healthcare is the number one fastest growing occupational area considering the aging of the American population as well as advances in medical technology. The expectation is that approximately 1.8 million new jobs will be added in the next seven years.
In addition, as efforts to control health care costs continue, some of the fastest growing jobs are expected to be as technicians, aids and assistants, as they assume some of the duties that were previously handled by more highly paid health care employees such as dentists and physicians.
Education
Two jobs fall into the top 30 fastest-growing occupations: preschool and postsecondary teachers.
With more people attending college, there is an expectation that there will be a greater need for teachers especially on a part-time basis. The outlook is for another 1.7 million jobs by 2014.
Technology
Six jobs fall under the technology group. Though the growth is not as rapid as in the previous decade, computer and mathematical science occupations are still expected to grow by nearly one million jobs as companies continue to integrate more complex technology and security issues dominate.
The primary focus is on computer systems design with three out of ten jobs focused in this area and about one-sixth anticipated to be in software publishing and data processing.
Environmental
Because of the increasing need for companies to comply with environmental regulations and the increasing public concern over a safe and clean environment, three eco careers fall into the environmental group.
The remaining three fastest-growing occupations are outside these four categories and include forensic science technicians, recruiting specialists, and paralegals.
Here are the top 30 fastest-growing occupations, 2004 to 2014, and typical educational level according to the Bureau:
- Home health aides, on-the-job training
- Network systems and data communications analyst, bachelor’s degree
- Medical assistants, on-the-job training
- Physician assistants, bachelor’s degree
- Computer software engineers/applications, bachelor’s degree
- Physical therapy assistants, associate degree
- Dental hygienists, associate degree
- Computer software engineers/systems software, bachelor’s degree
- Dental assistants, on-the-job training
- Personal and home care aides, on-the-job training
- Network and computer systems administrators, bachelor’s degree
- Database administrators, bachelor’s degree
- Physical therapists, master’s degree
- Forensic science technicians, associate degree
- Veterinary technologists/technicians, associate degree
- Diagnostic medical sonographers, associate degree
- Physical therapist aides, on-the-job training
- Occupational therapist assistants, associate degree
- Medical scientists (except epidemiologists), doctoral degree
- Occupational therapists, master’s degree
- Preschool teachers (except special education), vocational
- Cardiovascular technologists/technicians, associate degree
- Postsecondary teachers, doctoral degree
- Hydrologists, master’s degree
- Computer systems analysts, bachelor’s degree
- Hazardous materials removal workers, on-the-job training
- Biomedical engineer, bachelor’s degree
- Recruitment specialist, bachelor’s degree
- Environmental engineer, bachelor’s degree
- Paralegals and legal assistants, associate degree
See the companion article Choose a Job for the Future
