The Future of Work Is in Health Care and IT
The fastest-growing future career paths are in health care and IT.
Nov. 01, 2007 Special to ABCNEWS.com — -- For anyone interested in working in health care or computer science, it seems as if the future is bright.
Those fields will hire thousands of new employees through 2014, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In fact, nine of the 10 fastest-growing occupations are health or information technology occupations.
Topping the list of fastest-growing occupations is home health care aide. These people take care of elderly individuals in their homes. Their growth is fueled by the aging baby boomer population and their parents.
Click here to see some of the jobs of the future at our partner site, Forbes.com.
Over the next seven years the BLS predicts there will be a 56% increase in home health care jobs. That's an impressive jump, but more interesting is the actual number of jobs that will be added in that time: 350,000. (Some of the occupations with the greatest percentage increase are actually not adding as many jobs as ones with lower percentage increases, because they started off with a smaller number of people in the field.)
A similar job, personal and home care aide, will also gain an impressive number of positions by 2014: 287,000. Most personal and home care aides work with elderly, physically or mentally disabled clients who need more extensive personal and home care than family or friends can provide. Some aides work with families in which a parent is incapacitated and small children need care. Others help discharged hospital patients who have relatively short-term needs.
Health care is just half the story. Computer analysts and administrators are the other half.
Take computer software engineers who work on applications. They're the folks who develop, create and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. They also analyze user needs and develop software solutions, design software, or customize software for client use, with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. They're expected to increase by 222,000 jobs in the next seven years.
