by Kevin Gray
With the cooling of the economy and belt-tightening in areas in which many new college graduates have found employment traditionally, where should you look for opportunities? Healthcare, teaching, and computer-related fields offer the most promise, both now and in the long term.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) anticipates 54.7 million job openings over the 2004-2014 period. Of those openings, 18.9 million are expected to be created through growth, while the lion’s share—35.8 million—will be openings created by exiting workers, including, most notably, retiring Baby Boomers. The good news for those pursuing a college education: 28 percent of the job openings will require some college, while 25 percent will require a bachelor’s degree or more.
In terms of largest job growth among occupations that require a college education, healthcare, teaching, and computer-related occupations top the list. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1: Largest job growth among occupations that require a college education
| Occupation |
Education |
Registered nurses (2)
|
Associate degree
|
Postsecondary teachers (3)
|
Doctoral degree
|
General/operations managers (10)
|
Bachelor’s degree (plus work experience)
|
Elementary school teachers (except special education) (12)
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Accountants and auditors (13)
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Computer software engineers, applications (19)
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Computer systems analysts (30)
|
Bachelor’s degree
|
Source: Occupational employment projections to 2014, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Education level represents most significant source of postsecondary education. Number in ( ) represents rank in job growth among all occupations, regardless of education or training required.
|
While growth is important, it is opportunities created by replacement needs that will account for the bulk of openings. For example, among occupations requiring a college education, replacement needs make up more than half of the expected openings for management; engineering; and education, training, and library occupations. (See Figure 2.) The significance of jobs created by replacement needs is even more pronounced when data are viewed for specific functions. For example, elementary and middle school teachers will find that nearly 57 percent of the 815,000 openings will be to replace exiting teachers, and replacement jobs will account for more than two-thirds of the 474,000 opportunities available for secondary school teachers.
Figure 3 illustrates the role growth and replacement openings are expected to play for a variety of job functions.
Figure 2: Job openings 2004-2014 by broad occupation area
(Numbers in thousands)
| Occupation |
Total Openings |
Growth Openings |
Replacement Openings |
Management
|
4,920
|
2,155
|
2,765
|
Engineering
|
507
|
195
|
312
|
Education, training, library
|
3,558
|
1,740
|
1,818
|
Source: Occupational employment projections to 2014, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
|
Figure 3: Job openings 2004-14, by selected job functions (Numbers in thousands)
| Job |
Total Openings |
Growth Openings |
Replacement Openings |
Accountants and auditors
|
486
|
264
|
222
|
Computer software engineers
|
448
|
369
|
79
|
Aerospace engineers
|
35
|
6
|
29
|
Electrical engineers
|
49
|
18
|
31
|
Environmental engineers
|
23
|
15
|
8
|
Petroleum engineers
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
Psychologists
|
72
|
33
|
39
|
Social workers
|
221
|
124
|
97
|
Elementary and middle school teachers
|
815
|
351
|
464
|
Secondary school teachers
|
474
|
157
|
317
|
Special education teachers
|
197
|
92
|
105
|
Registered nurses
|
1,203
|
703
|
500
|
Physical therapists
|
72
|
57
|
15
|
Dental hygienists
|
82
|
68
|
14
|
Source: Occupational employment projections to 2014, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
|