Employee Demand?

November 16, 2005 2:07 PM

Besides nursing, what are some professions that will have a high demand for employees with in the next four years?
posted by dial-tone to work & money (22 comments total)

Pharmacy
posted by exogenous at 2:22 PM on November 16, 2005

Anything related to the boomers getting older and starting to pass away.,
posted by o2b at 2:28 PM on November 16, 2005

Librarianship -- IF you're willing to work in small town libraries or out-of-the-way places. If you're looking for things in major metropolitan areas or desirable geographic locations competition is still fierce.
posted by MsMolly at 2:37 PM on November 16, 2005

Truck driving
Prostitution
Disaster recovery
posted by pomegranate at 2:48 PM on November 16, 2005

The US Army has a very high demand for new recruits right now. Obviously, it's a huge commitment. All the more so if you found the reasons for going to war less than convincing. There's a pretty good chance that demand will remain high for some time to come.
posted by Loudmax at 3:20 PM on November 16, 2005

I don't really believe that the librarian shortage is materializing very soon. I think people are working past retirement age and postions are being cut - also many of the upcoming open positions may be managerial and not really available to new librarians witout a ton of prior experience.

That being said, as MsMolly mentioned if you are willing to relocate and live somewhere rural, there may be open positions.
posted by gnat at 4:02 PM on November 16, 2005

Construction in particular, and trades in general will maintain strong demand (at least in Canada, especially British Columbia).

From your profile I see that you're military. Any officer's training? Perhaps start a contracting company - manage the work crews, bid on jobs, juggle the finances.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 4:08 PM on November 16, 2005

Adult Education.
posted by Rash at 4:09 PM on November 16, 2005

Physical therapists and actuaries.
posted by LittleMissCranky at 5:18 PM on November 16, 2005

There's always a job waiting for competent, qualified mechanics.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:28 PM on November 16, 2005

Plumbers. *Everyone* needs a plumber sometime, and when they do, the need is usually so urgent that the plumber can charge quite a nice fee.
posted by Asparagirl at 5:33 PM on November 16, 2005

Construction. Management, trades, whatever. I'm a quantity surveyor and both the company I just left in NYC (and their competitors) and the company I just joined in Toronto are desperate for people.

Asparagirl, myself and my other half have decided that we'll be disappointed if we have kids who want to study - we want them all to be plumbers.
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:20 PM on November 16, 2005

Police, teachers, nurses. The three professions that never go away.
posted by unixrat at 6:32 PM on November 16, 2005

I've recently moved to a small, beautiful mountain town and discovered a trend I hadn't previously thought of or known of - many retirees have second homes here, and there is a fair amount of demand for housesitting/maintenance/security type positions for the months that the homes are unoccupied. As more moneyed people retire, this trend should continue, in certain places.

o2b's answer ("Anything related to the boomers getting older and starting to pass away") isn't much help in and of itself, but it is a good point. Funeral homes, mortuaries, morgues. Not strictly nursing - hospice and in-home care, doctors that specialize in arthritis, hearing and vision, etc. Lawyers that deal with wills and estate planning.
posted by attercoppe at 7:09 PM on November 16, 2005

High School science, biology, and physics teachers. You'll get a job literally anywhere you want to live.
posted by crapples at 7:09 PM on November 16, 2005

Law enforcement is in very high demand. The DHS and related expansion at the federal level has really put a crunch on the market, and police departments are poaching from each other like never before. LAPD even put together a "movie trailer" to show at theaters.
posted by dhartung at 8:45 PM on November 16, 2005

Another vote for teachers. My wife is a special ed teacher and can walk into pretty much any school at any time and get a job. I don't have it quite as easy with a degree in foreign languages, but have had no problems whatsoever. Forget all the crap you hear about teachers not being paid well, too. Especially if you have an advanced degree...
posted by richmondparker at 8:48 PM on November 16, 2005

speech language pathology
posted by coolsara at 9:45 PM on November 16, 2005

Difficult question because things change so quickly, and when you give nursing as a comparison, well, there isn't a whole lot out there than can.

For example:

Physical therapists and actuaries.
posted by LittleMissCranky

Several years ago physical therapist was the 'career'. At the university I went to it was as hard to get into as medical school. Within two years there were way too many physical therapist for the jobs available. That can, and will change. But in no way does physical therapy belong next to nursing. Night and day, and at least until recently, night. I have a couple of unemployed physical therapist as friends to back me up.
posted by Dennis Murphy at 10:36 PM on November 16, 2005

Paralegals
posted by invisible ink at 1:39 AM on November 17, 2005

NOT librarians. It seems like the only topic on the new librarian mailing lists is about how it's all a big lie that there's a librarian shortage.

I consider myself very lucky to have a professional position in a major metropolitan area.
posted by INTPLibrarian at 1:39 PM on November 17, 2005

Not speech therapists, either - HCFA doesn't think they should be reimbursed, so Medicare, state insurance, and most private insurance companies won't pay for it.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:39 AM on November 18, 2005