January 05, 2005
Wednesday

During the last two years, the United States experienced some of the strongest economic growth in its history. Unfortunately, the increase in employment was not as robust as many economists predicted.

In what sectors can new jobs be expected during the next 12 months? They should be found in many industries. And some should experience significant additions.

The sectors of health care, biotechnology, nanotechology, computer technology, retail, banking, and security should all experience employment increases throughout the year.

Health care employment has remained relatively stable for most of the last two decades. In fact, in some fields, such as nursing, there were shortages. Demand for health care positions should increase in almost every occupation in 2005.

Registered nurses and nursing assistants should see more demand for their expertise, resulting in even more shortages. Schools and training programs cannot produce them fast enough. In the case of RNs, recruiters are looking overseas to help fill the shortage.

Other health care occupations that should experience demand include physical therapists, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, cardiovascular therapists, surgical technologists, medical assistants and physician assistants.

The addition of clinical personnel should mean an increasing need for support staff. More administrators, recruiters, accountants and data entry clerks should be required.

Biotechnology is expected to become a boom industry over the next 10 years. Jobs should become abundant in every field. Because it is such a new industry, occupations that have not existed previously should be created.

The same is true of nanotechnology. Because it impacts so many industries such as medicine and electronics, expect job growth across the board.

People interested in employment in the computer technology fields should anticipate additional opportunities. Positions should become available across a broad spectrum of industries.

There should be demand for network administrators, network system analysts, Internet system analysts, database administrators, computer software engineers, computer support specialists and hardware engineers. Many people in computer technology that have had to take lesser jobs than desired may be able to move to better positions.

Though consumer spending has remained strong in the last several years, many economists expect it to become even stronger. That increase should result in more jobs in the retail sector. That should equate into the need for more salespeople, managers, clerks, cashiers, merchandising specialists and warehouseman.

More retail sales should result in more spending in advertisement. This means a need for more employees in this industry.

With all of these additions, the banking sector should see more jobs as well. The last decade of bank mergers and acquisitions has affected the demand for employees in this industry, but a continued economic expansion should increase the need for more loan officers, tellers, bookkeepers and data entry clerks.

A preoccupation on security, because of the war on terror along with the overall growing interest in the nation on security, should increase the need for more personnel in this industry. The sector should see more security guards, government security specialists and more technical specialists in the areas of computers and the Internet.

The general growth in the various industries should have an impact on the need for administrative personnel. Most every sector should see a growing demand for administrative managers, administrative assistants, accountants, bookkeepers, clerks and customer service employees.

Individuals seeking to move up to better positions, switch to other companies or just hoping to find a job should find 2005 a good year to find what they are looking for. As the year progresses, employment opportunities should reflect the continuing economic improvement.

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