In this New Year there may be people who have been unemployed and their unemployment is expiring but they don’t know what industry to pursue. Here at King & Bishop we have seen continued growth in the job market, and looking ahead we want to tell you where those new jobs will be.
On the national front, both business and consumer confidence strengthened in 2013. The US economy added an average of 189,000 jobs per month through 2013. Wall Street analysts predict that number to average 198,000 per month in 2014 – the highest running average since 2005.
Sustained employment growth created consumer confidence which drives the consumer-based economy, including the growing demand in leisure and hospitality, real estate and retail.
The US unemployment rate has dropped from 8.3% at the peak of the economic downturn to 6.7% for December 2013. The anticipated national economic growth rate for 2014 is 2.6%.
While this improves, there are still shortages for engineers, high skill health care workers and manufacturing skill workers across different industries. Rapid technology advances mean not only more jobs but more jobs with “new” skills. Between 2014 and 2020, over 75% of the 164 million new jobs created will require higher or “new” skills.
In many cases, King & Bishop clients are asking for human resources or “contract” recruiters, a position which hires more employees. We have also seen demands for financial industry talent, as banks and Investment firms hit hard by the recession are hiring again.
Within these industry segments, there are certain titles that are growing as well. A few of the titles we see in the IT industry include Computer Programmers, Software Engineers/Application Developer, Scientific Research and Development Services.
In the Professional and Business Services industry they have seen an increase in jobs for Marketing Analysts/Consultant, Wholesale and Manufacturing Sales and Biotechnology Research and Development.
The Heath Care industry is seeing more jobs for Registered Nurses, Home Health Care, Outpatient Laboratory and Other Ambulatory Services and Residential Care Professionals.
So, where are the jobs in Massachusetts?
In Massachusetts, analysts predict economic activity to grow by 3-3.4%.
The Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development estimates that for the period between 2004 and 2014, 1.1 million jobs will be added, consisting of 265,000 new jobs and 800,000 coming from retirement or career change. Of these jobs 22% have been in Management Consulting, Computer Systems, Research and Testing, and Health Care.
Our fast growing aging population not only creates vacancies in the employment market but also puts demand out for services and industries such as medical device, healthcare and hospital staffing.
Of the 30 fastest growing skill disciplines, 19 are in Health Care and IT. The other 11 fall into life sciences/biotech, education and forensic research. 56% of these jobs will require at minimum, an Associates Degree.
In 2014 we will see the job market continue to grow, leading to a better economy and lower unemployment rates. Many new opportunities will be occurring in the job market this year, so whether you are entering or re-entering the job market the statistics are in your favor.