7 Industries In Need Of Workers NOW: CareerBuilder

First Posted: 08-26-10 10:54 AM   |   Updated: 08-26-10 03:13 PM

By Brent Rasmussen, CareerBuilder.com: Given the layoffs and unemployment woes that consistently make headlines, it may seem hard to believe that some industries are actually experiencing worker shortages. Yet despite a national unemployment rate that hovers near double digits, there are industries that are in need of well-trained, qualified employees.

According to CareerBuilder's 2010 Mid-Year Job Forecast:

One-in-five employers (22 percent) reported that, despite an abundant labor pool, they still have positions for which they can't find qualified candidates.

Forty-eight percent of HR managers reported that there was an area of their organization in which they lacked qualified workers.

Health-care employers were the most likely to report a skills deficit with 63 percent of HR professionals in large health-care organizations stating they have a shortage of qualified workers.

Here are seven industries currently in need of workers, the reasons behind each, and why you might consider directing your career path toward one of these employee-hungry sectors -- and visit CareerBuilder for more information:

Skilled Trade
1 of 8
According to a talent shortage survey conducted by staffing firm Manpower Inc., skilled trade jobs (HVAC, electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, etc.) are 2010's hardest jobs to fill.

Why there's a need: Many skilled trade positions fall into the "middle-skills" job category, or jobs that do not require a four-year degree, yet do require some education or training beyond high school. The shortage of qualified workers in this area has been largely attributed to a need for additional programs designed to attract high school students to the community colleges and trade school programs that train these workers.

Why you should consider it: You can get paid while you learn. Most skilled-trade professions require training, much of which can be done during a paid apprenticeship. Skilled trades can also be a good career option for the business minded, since many skilled-trade workers are self-employed and own their own businesses.
--Brent Rasmussen, President, CareerBuilder North America
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Brent Rasmussen is President of CareerBuilder North America and heads the company's day-to-day operations in the United States and Canada. Rasmussen is an employment expert who regularly interviews with national TV and radio and speaks at various industry forums discussing hiring trends and workplace developments. He has appeared on Nightly Business Report, FOX Business Countdown to the Closing Bell, CNN American Morning, BusinessWeek Weekend and National Public Radio among others.


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PresidentRobertBooth   1 hour ago (5:49 PM)
I am willing to work in the transportation industry, but only if my rig is like Snowman's in "Smokey and the Bandit"
MojoHero   3 hours ago (3:57 PM)
Why is college tuition so high? Where is all that money going? By the look of some universities, those funds definitely aren't benefiting the students.
FiredUpRTG   2 hours ago (5:46 PM)
Tuition pays for professors, administrators, secretaries, bursars, registrars, accountants, computers and software (Microsoft Office can't handle records-keeping for 100,000+ students, employees, alumni), clerical staff, maintenance and cleaning supplies, cafeteria workers, food and drink, landscaping/groundskeeping, construction and building repairs, snow removal, paper/pens/toner for correspondence/printing of syllabi and tests, office supplies, reference books in the library (tomes can be $1000+), classroom/library/office/lounge/dorm furniture, brochure printing, postage, publicity, scholarships and fundraisers of the scholarship money, insurance (accidents/falls, lawsuits, weather), lawyers, water/electricity/energy, employer taxes etc. Tuition doesn't cover what a college needs to function…
Joe DeLucia   5 hours ago (2:31 PM)
I do not know where you get your stats from...education is NOT a place to get a job right now at least in CT. Between town/city budget cuts, decreased enrollment etc...a lot of highly motivated and qualified unemployed educators are sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.
bookwerm   6 hours ago (1:03 PM)
There is NO GUARANTEE a "healthy" economy will offer full employment.

We HAD low unemployment before the recession.

To Achieve that, folks spent MORE than they made.

We simply can't return to that, not sustainable.

However, if folks spent what they DID make, the economy would not have been so big, and not everyone would have had employment!

So, assuming we DON'T spend more than we make, how are we magically going to have low unemployment?
MojoHero   3 hours ago (3:54 PM)
It's almost kind of a catch 22, huh!
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tbone99   9 hours ago (10:31 AM)
Don't forget the border patrol, correctional officers, and bounty hunters. All booming !
Libertarian09   3 minutes ago (7:15 PM)
Shssss.... we prefer to ignore the real growth industries.
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eva belle   15 hours ago (4:28 AM)
How is that degree in Media Studies working out for you now friends?
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jeffrey678   19 hours ago (12:36 AM)
The Health care training programs in my area (X-ray, Nursing) have a two year waiting list and take more than two years to complete. The college requires you to be a student while on the waiting list taking classes in some other program with credits you can't transfer to a 4 year school.
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TggerJen   5 hours ago (2:45 PM)
That's an awful situation that sounds like it benefits the college rather than students and potential students. Yikes!
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Linda Mitchell   5 hours ago (2:48 PM)
Stay away from that school!
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LynnW49   20 hours ago (10:57 PM)
Modestly good news for some, especially those who can relocate because they are not chained to mortgages that are underwater.
But, also in need of staffing:
the integrity industry
the honesty business
the anti-hypocrisy brigade
friends of the American worker

Oops. I forgot. Those no longer pay.
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Social Construct   20 hours ago (11:32 PM)
Touche. This article was painting an extremely rosy scenario. I think the author could've used some of the qualities you mentioned.
TheyAllSuck   18 hours ago (1:01 AM)
Its NOT that the article is painting a rosy scenario. Its rich people propaganda. The American workforce is NOT short of QUALIFIED people. Its short of qualified people willing to work for the same wages as 3rd world workers. Industries just want to con high school kids to roll out the money for college (ie. - pay for their own training), and then hire them for a cheaply as they can to help drive down the salaries of the older, more experienced workers. We need MORE engineers??? I saw this crap back in the 1980's. How can you talk about needing more educators when all across the US they're talking about laying off teachers if the federal gov't doesn't subsidize the states' operations?
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Modok   20 hours ago (10:49 PM)
sure there are unfilled positions, but not in California.
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heroine addict   21 hours ago (10:13 PM)
Is the girl in the engineering photo a robot? I'm using the hp phone app so it might just look strange small...
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MISTERUNCONVENTIONAL   22 hours ago (9:32 PM)
When you outsource manufacturing the engineers usually go with it.

Where's the demand for engineers going to come from? I know auto engineers moving to China!
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TggerJen   4 hours ago (2:51 PM)
Yes, manufacturing and product engineers often follow the manufacturing process, along with some other engineers. Those still here face fierce competition from foreign workers brought here on low wages, and to drive down wages for all engineers, on H1B visas, which Congress is STILL handing out even at these high unemployment rates. And there are plenty of engineers, scientists, and technicians out of work and looking hard for jobs. The rates may be pretty low in some places, but not as low as traditionally nor as low as in the recent past.
I agree that the demand for engineers is likely going to drop further, for the reason you mention and because of H1B visas. So what motivates young people to study science, technology and engineering, and where are we going to get the tech advances of the future? From other nations? YIKES!
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rikster   22 hours ago (9:23 PM)
sales and customer service... only if you want to work for rice and beans......
Cougar28   22 hours ago (9:06 PM)
$5 per hour is coming back! Yeaaaaa!!!
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BluWoman   23 hours ago (8:33 PM)
Glenn Beck inspires close to 9000 comments but employment opportunities inspires just under 200?

And sheeple wonder why our country is turning into a complete joke.
NotARhetoricalQuestion   22 hours ago (8:55 PM)
Consider how much garbage there likely is in that 9,000-comment thread. Personally, I value quality over quantity.
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TggerJen   4 hours ago (2:53 PM)
That's a good point and I like it. Thanks for sharing it. Faved! Anyway, I hate to even read about that guy.
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veggiequeenmo   21 hours ago (10:23 PM)
Is this your response the the article? Maybe you could offer some insight into employment opportunities.
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BluWoman   19 hours ago (11:57 PM)
No.
I've already commented about engineering and neurology.

Your turn.
Libertarian09   0 minute ago (7:18 PM)
At least Beck is an active part of the problems facing America. Its the flood of comments on fluff and celebrity articles that I don't understand.
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gratefulred   23 hours ago (8:31 PM)
Point of fact: "X-ray technicians" usually do indeed require advanced education, usually a 2-year degree or a 4-year degree in radiology technology and should not be lumped in with nurses aides (usually requiring a short training course of a couple weeks long) or with other "nursing home workers" (whatever that means).
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BluWoman   23 hours ago (8:36 PM)
Maybe it differs from State to State but here in Cali, I've noticed a lacks in qualifications for X-ray and Ultrasound techs.

I personally know a couple of people who have absolutely no degree and is currently working as an X-Ray tech.

There's been much buzz about the decent money that can be made in that field.
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Chad Brick   21 hours ago (9:56 PM)
Yeah, I know an X-ray tech with a 2-year degree from Directional State U, and she was making a very middle-class wage by age 21. She ain't rich, but she's doing a heckuva lot better than half the people in the country...and she isn't doing something that 95% of that half couldn't do, either.
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gratefulred   12 hours ago (7:09 AM)
even most entry-level positions, such as the techs who just do chest x-rays, require at least a 1-year Certification (sort of like an LPN). These programs were much easier to get a spot in, before the economy went completely to pot. Now these programs are very competitive to get into.

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