What are the best jobs of 2008?

If you're job hunting in the professional or service-oriented fields, we have good news. Of the ten categories into which the Bureau of Labor Statistics divides jobs, the "professional" and "service" categories — already the two largest in the economy — will boast the most job openings in 2008. In the next decade, 17 percent more employees will be employed in these two categories than are today, nearly double the expansion of other categories.

With an increase in demand, professional and service jobs, which include professions like educator, scientist, health care worker and artist in the "professional" category, and police officer, child caretaker and cosmetologist in the "service" category, will also add roughly a million new jobs to the economy. By comparison, other categories such as construction, sales and administration, are predicted to grow by only 10 percent; all eight other occupational groups combined will add only about half a million jobs to the economy in 2008.

But wait a second: Aren't we heading for recession? Where are all these open jobs coming from? While new jobs are being created, they don't represent the majority of the open positions workers will see this year. Career switching and baby-boomer retirement will create a higher turnover than ever, which will continue to increase the supply of jobs available. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that while a slightly expanding economy is spurring job growth in a majority of fields, "the need to replace workers who leave a field permanently is expected to create more openings than growth will."

According to Chris Higgins, Senior Associate Director of Career Management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, the retirement boom has increased students' interest in general management rotation programs, introduced by many companies to stave off losses of a record number of retirees. He notes that companies are using these rotation programs as a way of "fast-tracking" replacements in management, and students are using them as a way of getting a taste for different departments and niches within a company. "The idea is to prepare them to move up quickly," he notes, but to do so while developing each potential manager's individual interests. "It turns out to benefit the employers as well as the employees," observes Higgins.

If you're job searching in certain occupational groups — namely farming, production, or transportation — you're looking at slow or negative growth and poor job availability. Peer occupational groups, however, are hiring at a brisker pace: construction, administration, and maintenance and repair are all groups that are experiencing healthy growth or job availability. On the other hand, if you're looking in the white-collar realm, you're better set for 2008; both growth and availability are predicted to be healthy for the foreseeable future.

The Thoroughbreds: Fastest-growing sectors
Within the "professional" rubric, three particular sectors are displaying the most aggressive growth rates: computer/mathematical, community/social service, and health practices jobs are each projected to grow by more than 20 percent in the next decade, with education/library jobs following at 14 percent. Put those percentages to work on the total number of jobs in each of those fields, and you see healthcare and education adding the bulk of the professional jobs to the economy: around a quarter of a million jobs in 2008 alone. That means that if you're an aspiring teacher or health worker, you won't be looking for jobs — the jobs will be looking for you.

While computer and mathematical science jobs are projected to grow at nearly double the rate of other types of jobs, growth in this demographic has actually slowed in the last decade "as the software industry matures and as routine work is increasingly outsourced abroad," says the BLS. There's still healthy hiring here, however, and some experts are saying computer science jobs will be in increasing demand. Chris Higgins has recently seen the precursors to an upswing in tech recruitment for Wharton students, at least among the biggest Silicon Valley heavyweights. "Tech firms are picking up hiring again," he notes, "in a way they haven't in nearly a decade." Companies like Google are hiring online sales, operations, and Internet services employees in droves, which he says has some insiders murmuring about an industry-wide boom waiting in the wings.

In short, computer and mathematical experts continue to be a sought-after demographic. They may not see the same demand that educators and health professionals are enjoying anytime soon, but it may not be long before the tech industry reaches 90s-level hiring and growth once again.

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