The 25 Best High Demand Jobs in America
The US Labor Market
The American labor market is changing overall, very quickly and dramatically.
It is changing with the addition of new jobs developed every year in the rise of new industries never before imagined in this country. Further, many old American jobs every year are either eliminated, filled by immigrants, or outsourced overseas.
For instance, our state's employment indexes for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and other departments still list "Elevator Operator" as a real job that people can still do, sitting down (if partially disabled) or standing up. However, we have not had any elevator operators in our city since the late 1960s.
In addition, the Guest Worker Program or various versions of it, is allowing migrant workers to enter the United States to earn money to send back home to their families and/or to support themselves here in a better life than they would have at home.
There is a lot of controversy about this last situation, with opposing sides arguing that America should either 1) allow all immigrants into the Land of the Free just as our ancestors were permitted in so that they could find work and a new, free life, or 2) prohibit most immigration because there may no longer be enough room and resources in America to accept these individuals on top of our 300,000,000 residents, increasing every day.
The second choice also is about not allowing in terrorists. However, no matter which side you may support, the fact is that immigrants are continuing to enter America and accept work, and this is changing the labor market in the US.
Not Enough Jobs, Too Many Years Until Retirement
Another interesting situation is that the Baby Boomers are retiring in the 2010s and, as a result, there are statistically not quite enough younger people yet to fill their vacant jobs.
Additionally, many Boomers need to continue working because of lost pensions when companies went out of business, a slow down of Social Security Retirement yearly increases, companies demanding repayments of overpaid retirement pensions, and other problems.
The job openings that come from retirements is good news to those individuals that were laid off recently at the age of 50 or 55 and still have 10-15 years to work before qualifying for Social Security and company retirement benefits.It is good news to younger job seekers as well. In the mid-2010s, America has enough jobs for only about half of its unemployed and searching adults.
In addition, there are multiplying rumors that Social Security will not be in force when these 50-somethings retire. Some economists believe that there are not enough younger people working in the 2010s to contribute enough money into the Social Security system to support the Baby Boomers when they are all retired.
What is known, however, is that the retirement age is increasing gradually above 65 for full benefits. In 2013, many Boomers cannot receive full benefits until age 66 and some younger Boomers, myself includes, have received notices that their full time benefits will not start until age 70.
Legislation took effect under the Reagan Administration that called for a gradual rise in retirement age to 75 years. However, the age can be increased whenever it is deemed by Congress and the SSA as necessary.
One fact that angers some workers is that all of their Social Security contributions deducted from their paychecks before they reached the age of 21 went to the payment of benefits to retirees. These deductions before age 21 do not count toward the workers' own SS Retirement accounts.
Older individuals may experience living even longer when working a greater number of years, because working is keeping them healthier and providing them an income with which to afford better food, some companionship and interaction with others, and possibly some better health care and living conditions.
In addition, working for a longer number of years may cause a health decline in some individuals.
All of these situations combine to exert more pressure on the American economy to have jobs available to more people in a wider age range, say 14 - 80+ years of age.
An estimate by the US Department of Labor shows that these following 25 jobs will be the fastest growing occupations in America between 2010 and 2020.
Fast Growing US Jobs, by Percentage Increase to AD 2026
Both job titles "solar photovoltaic installers" and "Wind turbine service technicians" are expected by the US federal government to increase in numbers of job openings faster than any other jobs up through AD 2026; but, in mid-2018, these jobs are not increasing as fast as expected. A renewed focus on American fossil fuel extraction by the Trump Administration is likely the cause.
- Industrial/Organizational Psychologists: Important in business and aerospace exploration/colonization.
- Patient Care Techs: Formerly known as Home Health Aides, Nurse’s Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants. New training curricula and certification were instituted beginning in 2015.
- Personal Care Aides: Includes part-time "chore helpers" in the home.
- Nurse Practioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs): NPs often fill the PA assistant positions.
- Heavy, Tractor-Trailer, Semi Truck Drivers and Owner Operators -- These jobs are increasing markedly in 2014 and have remained in high demand.
- Engineers and Technicians in IT, Environmental, Manufacturing, and Aerospace. This includes computer software developers of all sorts.
- Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, and Licensed Vocational Nurses
- Interpreters and Translators
- Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
- Trademan's Helpers: Includes many construction tradesmen like brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, tile and marble setters, insulation workers.
- Occupational Therapy Assistants
- Genetic Counselors
- Physical Therapy Assistants and Aides -- These positions are less well paid than Physical Therapists, but do many of the same tasks and still receive good pay.
- Skincare Specialists: Many of these work in medical practices.
- Physician Assistants: Many of these positions are filled by Nurse Practitioners.
- Segmental Pavers
- Tradesman's Helpers in electrical work.
- Information Security Analysts
- Occupational Therapy Aides
- Health Specialties Assistant Professors
- Medical Secretaries
- Physical Therapists
- Wholesale Sales Representatives
- Dentists and Dental Hygienists
- Physicians, Surgeons, and Medical Scientists; all specialties
Implications of Fastest Growing Jobs
You can see from this Top-25 list that these fastest-growing jobs in America are all in medicine and health-related areas, computers and technologies, sciences, and education. Many of the computer and technology jobs opening up today and in the future are, themselves, also connected to health and medicine, especially in bioengineering and researching the possibilities for living in space (aerospace medicine and technologies).
While some of these top jobs require an advanced education degree, many need a less-intensive associate degree or On the Job Training (OJT).
Once in such a job, a worker can often benefit from their employer's professional development program and take advantage of Tuition Reimbursement and other programs. In this way, they can work themselves up to a bachelor's degree and even a master's degree and higher-level professional degrees.
Any of these Top 25 Fastest-Growing American Jobs can lead to a satisfying, productive, and lucrative career.
Case Example: Hydrology, a Lesser-Known Career Field
"Hydrologist" offers a fast growing job title in terms of the most jobs opening up in America from AD 2000 through at least AD 2020.
Not widely known overall by today's employee pool, the following are some of the most important tasks of the hydrologist, especially in light of the hurricane related flooding along the Gulf of Mexico in the early 21st century:
- Determining the water balance of a region;
- Designing riparian restoration projects;
- Mitigating and predicting flood, landslide, and drought risks;
- Designing irrigation systems and managing agricultural productivity;
- Creating a hazard module in catastrophe modeling;
- Providing clean drinking water for people and animals;
- Designing dams for water supply and hydroelectric power;
- Designing bridges;
- Designing and improving sewers and urban drainage systems;
- Predicting erosion or sedimentation;
- Assessing contaminant transport risk;
- Establishing environmental policy guidelines.
Sources
- CareerOneStop.com Retrieved June 28, 2018.
- Indeed.com High Demand Jobs: job listing aggregates from January 2017, June 2017, January 2018, June 2018.
- Koenig, R. The 25 Best Jobs of 2018. US News and World Reports. money.usnews.com/money/careers/slideshows/the-25-best-jobs Retrieved June 29, 2018.
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Most New Jobs - Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS.gov Retrieved June 26, 2018.
- Nova, A. Everyone wants to hire for these 10 jobs — but not enough people are applying. www.cnbc.com/2018/02/14/10-in-demand-jobs-that-dont-draw-enough-applicants.html Retrieved June 29, 2018.
- The 50 Best Jobs in America (by Glassdoor). time.com/money/5114734/the-50-best-jobs-in-america-and-how-much-they-pay/ Retrieved June 29, 2018.
© 2007 Patty Inglish MS