A Job Boom Is Coming
This might be hard to believe, but according to article in September issues of Business 2.0, a job boom is coming in the next year or two. So yes, we should all forget those grim unemployment numbers. NOT! We can thank the baby boomers for our good fortune.
The cause of the labor squeeze is as simple as it is inexorable: During this decade and the next, the baby boom generation will retire. The largest generation in American history now constitutes about 60 percent of what both employers and economists call the prime-age workforce–that is workers between the ages of 25 and 54. The cohorts that follow are just too small to take the boomers’ place. The shortage will be most acute among two key groups: managers, who tend to be older and closer to retirement, and skilled workers in high demand, high-tech jobs.
The article goes on to state that the 10 fastest growing occupations through 2010 are in high-tech and medical fields. No real surprise here. Specifically, they include: medical assistants, systems analyst, personal and home care aide,
database administrator, desktop publisher, network systems and administrator, systems software engineer, support specialist, and software engineer. Too bad I’m not interested in any of those jobs. Oh well!
Finally, the article also goes on to list the cities were the jobs are growing: Las Vegas, Orlando, West Palm Beach (FL), Ft. Lauderdale (FL), Riverside (CA), Phoenix, Jacksonville (FL), Tampa (FL), Raleigh-Durham (NC), Sacramento (CA), Austin, Charlotte (NC), Atlanta, San Diego, Washington, Dallas, Oakland (CA), Miami, Denver, and Orange County, CA. Hmmm. Too bad I don’t want to live in any of those places. Oh well. As least more people are starting to talk about a recovery. This non-recession has gone on way too long.
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September 2, 2003 at 10:30 am
Neal
The real issue with this article is its “sacre tactic” appeal to those who don’t favor the H1-B visa program. It’s basically a plea to get the visa issue off of the legislative books. I don’t think the boomers will retire as fast as everyone thinks. They have seen the potential for massive 401K losses and that safety net of a pension is not there for a great deal of them.
By the way, love Chicago. Lived on the corner of Waveland and Fremont for 2 years. Miss it every weekend.
August 24, 2003 at 9:29 pm
Ursula
Interesting that Dell would outsource to a foreign country and yet ask natives of that foreign country to be use fake names so they can sound more American. Goodness. What arrogance! In any event, I’m not opposed to cities like Austin. However, without knowing someone there or having a job lined up, it’s hard for me to imagine myself there. Of course, never say never. Oh, thanks for the compliment about my weblog. I really appreciate your patronage.
August 24, 2003 at 4:04 pm
Criseyde
Hi, Ursula. I read your site occasionally, with interest.
1. I am in Austin.
2. Yes, Dell has made strides to outsource ALL of it phone support to Bangalore and Hyderabad, even building its own buildings there.
3. Those in India, as a third-party vendor to Dell, are told to have ‘American’ sounding names. It is not their choice, most often.
4. Being in Austin (which, btw, despite your non-interest in being here, is a lovely city that folks go to and often don’t leave :P) we get first hand info from Dellites, and/or work there, so that’s where the info comes from.
5. And your site’s rather cool. 😉
Good luck with things.
Cris
August 23, 2003 at 1:54 pm
Ursula
You raise an interesting point. Outsourcing places like India has already begun and will probably get more prolific. For example, everytime I call Dell re my laptop computer, I get someone from India and it’s sort of interesting to see how they are trying to Americanize themselves. For example, one gal I dealt with whose real name
Madhuri was calling herself Kathy. I mean, come on! Why can’t we all just be our original self? Why do we always have to try and change who we are to “fit in”?
August 21, 2003 at 10:32 pm
Leigh Hanlon
I read that article, too. What it doesn’t really address is how many of those jobs are going to be outsourced to India or some other place.