It seems everyone I speak to these days is struggling in some way and often it is with either money or health. To address the money issue, I’ve been doing some research on behalf of some young struggling individuals.
My first stop was the Bureau of Labor Statistics that offers projections for what future job growth might be and what future job declines might be from now thru 2032. The table below is an abridged version of the one available here.
2022 National Employment Matrix title | Employment, 2022 | Employment, 2032 | Employment change, numeric, 2022–32 | Employment change, percent, 2022–32 | Median annual wage, dollars, 2022(1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Healthcare support occupations | 7,144.9 | 8,245.5 | 1,100.6 | 15.4 | 33,600 |
Computer and mathematical occupations | 5,277.6 | 6,081.4 | 803.8 | 15.2 | 100,440 |
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations | 9,481.0 | 10,243.7 | 762.7 | 8.0 | 77,760 |
Community and social service occupations | 2,936.5 | 3,164.2 | 227.7 | 7.8 | 49,380 |
Life, physical, and social science occupations | 1,473.7 | 1,563.2 | 89.5 | 6.1 | 74,330 |
Personal care and service occupations | 4,115.9 | 4,365.2 | 249.3 | 6.1 | 31,340 |
Legal occupations | 1,362.4 | 1,442.3 | 80.0 | 5.9 | 95,170 |
Business and financial operations occupations | 10,591.1 | 11,179.7 | 588.6 | 5.6 | 76,850 |
Management occupations | 12,574.7 | 13,257.7 | 683.0 | 5.4 | 107,360 |
Transportation and material moving occupations | 14,302.8 | 15,082.2 | 779.4 | 5.4 | 37,940 |
Architecture and engineering occupations | 2,611.8 | 2,746.8 | 134.9 | 5.2 | 83,700 |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations | 3,071.1 | 3,187.0 | 115.9 | 3.8 | 58,030 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations | 6,315.3 | 6,543.7 | 228.4 | 3.6 | 50,080 |
Total, all occupations | 164,482.6 | 169,148.1 | 4,665.5 | 2.8 | 46,310 |
Construction and extraction occupations | 7,335.5 | 7,520.6 | 185.1 | 2.5 | 50,570 |
Educational instruction and library occupations | 9,354.1 | 9,570.6 | 216.5 | 2.3 | 57,490 |
Food preparation and serving related occupations | 12,965.9 | 13,191.5 | 225.6 | 1.7 | 29,640 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations | 5,501.2 | 5,594.1 | 92.9 | 1.7 | 33,870 |
Protective service occupations | 3,568.4 | 3,579.8 | 11.4 | 0.3 | 45,450 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations | 996.4 | 977.2 | -19.2 | -1.9 | 33,970 |
Sales and related occupations | 14,476.4 | 14,102.0 | -374.5 | -2.6 | 35,290 |
Production occupations | 9,134.5 | 8,845.8 | -288.7 | -3.2 | 39,910 |
Office and administrative support occupations | 19,891.4 | 18,663.8 | -1,227.6 | -6.2 | 40,910 |
The highest projected growth for jobs appear to be in healthcare and computer & mathematical occupations. The highest projected pay for jobs are in management, computer/math, and legal occupations.
There are stories of the silver tsunami everywhere that may lead to catastrophic labor shortages by the year 2030 when all baby boomers hit age 65 in 2030.
It seems clear that there will be many job growth opportunities in the right industries and the right job occupation for those willing to do a bit of research, study and have a bit of ambition.