Hot Jobs: Top 10 Growing Occupations – Which Industries Show Most Promise

By Sean Belk
Staff Writer

Cutbacks in education due to the state’s financial crisis, surging unemployment and downsizing operations all seem rather daunting these days for the average student or college graduate deciding what field to enter.

Today, students fresh out of local universities are facing pressures from all sides.

Not only has training and education been scaled back or become more costly, but even those with relevant skills must now compete with an older generation of Southern Californians, many of whom have been laid off, or who have had to take on multiple jobs or postpone their retirement.

Even so, there are some emerging fields that are leading the way in growth after most industries have been hit heavily by the economic downturn.

Kristen Monaco, professor of economics and associate director for Master of Arts in Global Logistics at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), said the top professions are linked to the hottest industries. Right now, those are healthcare services and transportation/trade related jobs, she said.

“Transportation and healthcare are already seeing large gains while everyone else is flat lining,” Monaco said. “People with a variety of educational levels and skill sets, have a lot of opportunities right now.”

The Greater Long Beach area holds the busiest port complex in the country as well as numerous healthcare and medical institutions, which make the region well positioned for many local graduates and job seekers to take advantage of these growing fields.

“Long Beach is nicely situated because those are areas where we have a lot of industry already in existence,” she said. “These are jobs that seem to be opening up at every level: entry level, intermediate level and management level jobs. After a long time of not hiring . . . I get job postings across my desk especially in transportation for high school graduates, college graduates and people with master’s degrees.”

The Business Journal has compiled a list of the 10 fastest growing skilled occupations on the market, with combined information from local economists, government statistics and industry experts, trying to answer the question: Where are the hot jobs today?

Nursing/Home Healthcare Aids

With an ever-increasing elderly population and the baby-boomer generation reaching retirement, the healthcare industry remains the most rapidly growing field locally and across the nation.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the nursing industry will generate 3.2 million new wage and salary jobs between 2008 and 2018.

Most recently, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) reported that there were 4,490 new jobs for registered nurses this year, the highest number of openings for any occupation, according to statistics released June 18.

Other healthcare professions in demand are physical therapists and home healthcare aides to attend to the needs of today’s aging population. These fields require less education than the nursing field.

But acquiring the education and skill sets needed appears to be a mounting concern.

“Nursing is one of those occupations that is going to be in high demand for a while,” Monaco said. “Given the cut backs at the community college level, if people who want to go into programs don’t have those opportunities at the lower levels, then we’re going to continue to see demand far outpacing supply.”

Lucy Huckabay, director of the CSULB Department of Nursing, said nursing student enrollment has quadrupled in the last few years, alleviating a major shortage since 2002. California once had the least number of nurses per population ratio, she said.

While nursing still appears to be one of the most prevalent occupations in high demand, the state’s budget deficit has cut back funding for universities with nursing programs.

CSULB now has a mandate to reduce student enrollment to only 90 slots per semester for the nursing program, adversely affecting the availability. With programs still impacted, Huckabay predicts the shortfall in funding will create an even worse shortage of nurses in the near term.

Meanwhile, CSULB has recently spent $5.5 million to build more classes and offices for nursing studies at a new facility expected to open by the end of August. The project provides three classrooms for almost 100 students and facilities for faculty members.

Pharmacists

Another occupation showing an upward trend is pharmacists. Employment of pharmacists is expected to grow by 17 percent between 2008 and 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Demand will continue to increase as scientific advancements produce new drug products.

John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., a nationwide executive outplacement service, said the federal healthcare reform bill may even help the growth of the field further as more and more people obtain healthcare in the coming years.

“It’s a good short term and long term place for hiring and to look for jobs,” he said.

The rise in more attention toward health and the added access to health insurance could invariably provide more openings for pharmacists, which, in general requires less training than higher skilled occupations.

The department of labor states that, “pharmacists advise patients, physicians, and other health practitioners on the selection, dosages, interactions, and side effects of medications, as well as monitor the health and progress of patients to ensure that they are using their medications safely and effectively.” Mixing of ingredients to form medications, known as compounding, is actually a small part of a pharmacist's practice, since most medicines are produced by pharmaceutical companies and in standard dosages. Pharmacists generally work in a community setting, such as a retail drugstore, or in a healthcare facility, such as a hospital, the department states.

International Sales/Trade Logistics

With President Barack Obama pledging to double American exports by 2015 and the economy showing a relative rebound, the field of international trade and transportation appears to be one of the most promising areas of growth in terms of producing new long-term jobs and careers.

Robert Lee, labor market consultant for the California EDD, said locally the field has the largest number of new hires this year and expects that to increase.

“If you look at the industries in general the biggest industry is trade and transportation,” he said. “That’s because we have the ports and all the warehousing out in Riverside.”

Cesar Arellanes, program manager for the Center for International Trade Development located at Long Beach City College, said the center focuses on helping students find jobs in the Greater Long Beach area and provides training in the area to help companies become trade ready.

“International trade is a great hot job,” he said. “What’s really amazing is that high schools are already teaching international trade courses, so they’re starting young. We have students who already have an interest.”

Fields of interest include global business management, risk management assessment, global marketing, container security and trade finance, as well as related professions such as longshoreman, stackers, carriers and freight brokers.

Arellanes says that internships, and the contacts they provide, are a great way to get into the industry. The center, which receives state, port and community college funding, works with small businesses to connect students to growing opportunities.

Trucking/Distribution

With international and domestic trade traffic increasing this year, there is expected to be more of a demand for truck drivers and driver/sales workers in warehousing and distribution, which accounts for 44 percent of all jobs in the transportation/ international trade industry.

The department of labor lists trucking as a growing field with an increase of about 9 percent in employment expected between 2008 and 2018, creating about 300,000 jobs nationwide. The sector had 2.1 million wage and salary jobs in 2008. Truck driving often requires a high school education or less, although more workers today have at least some post-secondary education, according to the labor department.

“As the economy rebounds, trucking will be very much in demand as well as other support jobs down at the ports . . . at all levels, not just high school level, but also educated or unskilled workers,” Monaco said.

Challenger said in the past two years jobs have been down in this field but as the economy recovers more workers will find jobs again.

There were 29,400 trucking establishments in the country in 2008, along with a large number of independent truckers who work as liaisons for distributors.

The U.S. Department of Transportation regulates work hours as well as the working conditions of truck drivers in interstate commerce. Other jobs related to trucking include office and administrative support services, installation, maintenance, repair, sales and management.

Motion Picture/Sound Recording

Another industry that has made gains, especially this year, is the field of information. With a close proximity to the bustling entertainment industry in Los Angeles County, sound recording and motion pictures have been major drivers of jobs in the information sector, according to Lee.

While almost all other fields show declines this year, motion picture and sound recording is the only sector that showed market gains in job opportunities. Over half of the jobs in the industry are in motion pictures and sound recording, he added.

Steep competition is expected for the top high-paying jobs such as writers, actors, producers and directors, but other prospects are continuing to grow, including the fields of multimedia artists, animators, film and video editor, digital framing and computer generated imaging.

Skilled job seekers are recommended to apply to small or independent filmmakers located in the Los Angeles area, according the department of labor. Digital technology and computer-generated imaging have made great gains and are expected to transform the industry.

Computer/IT Managers

Employment in computer and information technology (IT) is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations, according to the department of labor. Many companies today depend on technology to work both effectively and reliably. Computer and information systems managers direct the work of other IT professionals.

John Andrews, a career expert and regional vice president at Everest College, a branch of Corinthian Colleges, Inc., said in a recent statement that the computer and IT profession is one of this season’s top career choices.

“Industry data suggests companies will hire in this area as businesses come out of the recession,” he stated. “Computer networks will continue to be an integral part of business, and demand for workers will increase as firms continue to invest in new technologies.”

The department of labor states that the employment of network and computer systems administrators is expected to increase by 23 percent from 2008 to 2018.

Challenger also said the technology field has become one of the strongest fields to enter.

“Technology will continue to grow,” he said. “Knowledge jobs are growing in almost every field.”

Software Engineers

Computer software engineering, which is the design and development of software for computer games, business applications, operating systems and network control systems, also seems to be a thriving field. It is one of the occupations projected to grow the fastest and add the most new jobs over the 2008-18 decade, according to the department of labor.

However, the department notes that the need for computer programmers is expected to decline by 3 percent through 2018.

Most applicants in the field require a bachelor’s or higher degree, in computer science or mathematics, and relevant experience.

Biotech/Medical Engineering

While engineering has generally been an expanding field, Monaco said that biotech or biomedical engineering is the most prevalent today after a shift in the industry due to recent economic factors.

“It’s really amazing the shift in engineering over time,” she said. “There’s a lot of biomedical engineering where in the past it was sort of civil engineering. So we’ve seen sort of an evolution in engineering.”

However, she did mention that engineers of all types are in demand with a lot of the jobs for highly skilled engineers.

The field of biomedical engineering is most prevalent in research studies for healthcare institutions, hospitals and universities, as well as government and corporations. Professionals generally apply knowledge of engineering, biology and biomechanical principles to the design, development, and evaluation of biological and health systems and products, like artificial organs, prostheses, instrumentation, medical information systems, and health management and care delivery systems.

Accounting/Financial Analysis

As more companies focus on revenue streams and expenses, and as individuals become more aware of their budgets, the field of accounting and financial analysis has become a growing industry lately.

Accountants mainly compute, classify, and record numerical data to keep financial records complete. They also perform any combination of routine calculating, posting and verifying duties to obtain primary financial data for use in maintaining accounting records to assure accuracy for business transactions.

Challenger said accounting still appears to be hiring for workers as one of the most needed practices, such as auditing and risk management for companies trying to stay above the financial tide.

“Those are good areas,” he said. “In this current environment, companies have to provide more data and they’re more careful about their costs and finances. That’s an area where there’s been some real demand.”

However, Monaco notes that “back office” jobs in financing aren’t as widespread as other fields. She said entry-level positions, for instance, aren’t as prevalent for recent college graduates as they used to be.

Entry level analyst positions are very hard to come by right now,” she said. She did note, though, that highly skilled financial analysts are always in demand.

Jobs in the field right now range from payroll services to tax preparation.

Utilities/Energy Efficiency

With companies, corporations and governments focusing on energy efficiency and cost saving measures, the utilities industry is expected to see more demand for workers and professionals.

The department of labor states that opportunities will be abundant in this field for qualified entrants as more people retire. Applicants are expected to have college training or advanced technical education; however, skills developed in one segment of the industry might not transfer to other segments because the utilities industry consists of many different companies and products.

Also, energy policy is expected to see major changes in the coming years, with key issues facing policy makers and legislators today such as energy security, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and toxic waste disposal.

While the change over to energy efficiency hasn’t happened as rapidly as expected, Challenger said the field is expected to continue to grow in the longer term with the advent of alternative energy sources.

“Energy is a pretty strong field,” he said. “It extends to other areas, potentially solar and wind and nuclear.”

The main categories for this field include electric power, oil, natural gas, water, sewage and other systems.