American Workforce Projections through 2020
In many ways the workforce of 2020 will look similar to the one of 2010: science, medical, and technology jobs should continue to be the most in-demand. The contract and freelance workforce - about 30 percent of today’s workers - will expand. More entrepreneurs will create their own opportunities. Workers will continue to move through a series of jobs and require training for new fields.
One of the biggest differences may be the multiple generations in the workforce.
Daniel W. Rasmus, writing for strategy+businessin 2009, reports interesting demographics influencing the workforce of 2020. According to Rasmus, the 53 million Generation X workers will be a relatively small part of the workforce. Yet they will be next in line for vacancies left by 78 million retiring boomers. Hot on the heels of Gen X workers and competing for jobs will be 80 million Millennials, a group larger than the boomers.
“There will be members of five generations in the workplace in 2020. Their various generational working and learning styles will change the way they do business,” according to Jeanne C. Meister, co-author of the book “The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today.” This will create interesting interactions among workers, and managers will need to find new ways for them to work together.
Aside from the generational blending, Rasmus reports that the 2020 workforce will also be composed of employees who are not employees at all in the traditional sense, but “temporaries, contractors, contingent workers, outsourced workers, freelancers….” Rasmus also expects that “presence at a workplace will not be required for many information services jobs.”
So in this diverse workforce, what jobs will be most in demand for 2020?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics only projects through 2018. Their projections for promisingoccupationsshow a heavy demand for science and technology jobs that require at least a bachelor’s degree, and aides and assistance jobs that require an associate’s degree or merely on-the-job training. The top 15 are listed here, beginning with the jobs with heaviest demand and growth projections:
- Biomedical engineers
- Network systems and data communications analysts
- Home health aides
- Personal and home care aides
- Financial examiners
- Medical scientists
- Physician assistants
- Skin care specialists
- Biochemists and biophysicists
- Athletic trainers
- Physical therapist aides
- Dental hygienists
- Veterinary technologists
- Dental assistants
- Computer software engineers, applications
As the recession drags on and unemployment remains high, many are learning to create their own jobs, rather than wait for things to improve.Hannah Seligson reportedin The New York Times on December 11, 2010, many graduates are choosing the entrepreneurial route. She cites recent findings from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, that only “24.4 percent of 2010 graduates who applied for a job had one waiting for them after graduation….”
Seligson points to one recent grad who explains that the “tools to become an entrepreneur are more accessible than they’ve ever been. Thanks to the Internet, there are fewer upfront costs.” So the workforce of the future may be working from home - or the local coffee shop. It almost seems these workers had read Mr. Rasmus’ article.
Whatever the workforce of 2020 may ultimately be, it is certain to require an educational foundation to build upon. Workers will continue to move into various positions through their careers that may not have existed when they were young. Technological advances will call for ongoing skills’ updates and retraining.
