Many students hear the phrase “follow your passion,” so educators and career experts are building on that. In addition to recommending that students pursue their passion, educators are also guiding them to develop a passion for a job they would be good at in a growing or emerging field.
And if they can find one that pays well, all the better. Total employment in northeast Indiana is projected to grow 7.7 percent over the 2020–30 projections decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Employment in leisure and hospitality is projected to grow the fastest nationally among all sectors over the 2020–30 decade, accounting for 7 of the 20 fastest growing industries. This growth is largely driven by recovery from the pandemic, as restaurants, hotels, and establishments related to the arts, culture, and recreation see restored demand from the public resuming recreational and in-person activities.
Employment in healthcare and social assistance is projected to add the most jobs of all industry sectors, about 3.3 million jobs throughout the US during 2020–30. Within healthcare, employment in the individual and family services industry is projected to increase the fastest, with an annual growth rate of 3.3 percent. Factors expected to contribute to the large increase include rising demand for the care of an aging baby-boomer population, longer life expectancies, and continued growth in the number of patients with chronic conditions.
Technological advancements are expected to support strong employment growth in professional, business and scientific services industries, including computer systems design and related services (2.1 percent projected annual employment growth nationally from 2020 to 2030), as well as management, scientific and technical consulting services (2 percent).
Computer analytics and mathematical occupations are expected to see fast employment growth, as strong demand is expected for IT security and software development, in part due to the increased prevalence of telework spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for new products associated with the Internet of Things (IoT), and for analyzing and interpreting large data sets, are also expected to contribute to fast employment growth for these occupations, which include statisticians, information security analysts and data scientists.
The following chart shows expected employment growth and median annual wage for the top 10 fastest-growing occupations nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Unfortunately, not all industries are growing. For comparison, the retail industry is projected to lose 586,800 jobs over the 2020–30 decade, the most of any sector. As e-commerce continues to grow in popularity, accelerated by spending patterns in the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for brick-and-mortar retail establishments is expected to decline.
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