Which industries will have the most jobs?
Which industries will have the most jobs?
Making informed career decisions requires reliable information about opportunities in the future.
Demand for various goods and services are largely responsible for employment in the industries providing them. Employment opportunities, in turn, result from demand for skills needed within specific industries. At this moment demand for some goods and services has fallen because of the recession, which makes it more difficult to accurately predict what we think the future job opportunities in Scotland will be.
However experience shows that Industries will change and new jobs that were unknown before or insignificant will emerge. For example call centres emerged out of the early 1980's recession. This is the most informed up to date picture we have.
What industries will have the most opportunities?
A report "From Recession to Recovery: the local dimension" published by the Local Government Association offers an analysis of which industries will be most at risk during the next two years.
They predict that the Manufacturing and Construction sectors, which showed the greatest decline in the 1990-92 recession, are also likely to have the largest job losses between 2008-2010, with property, renting and other business services also afftected.
Health and Care is likely to grow in the 2008-2010 recession and Education is likely to remain stable.
How many opportunities will there be?
There will continue to be job opportunities in every industry but the numbers will vary in each industry.
Even in those industries where the total number employed is expected to be fewer; there will be opportunities as workers leaving employment, for example through retirement, need to be replaced.
What types of jobs will there be?
Most job opportunities will be at professional and managerial level.
- Science, engineering and technology – e.g. chemists
- Environmental industries – e.g. new green jobs such as Wind Resource Analyst
- Education and health professionals – e.g. teachers, social workers and healthcare professionals
- Culture, media and sports industries. – e.g. Sports Scientist, theatre and live music technicians
There is also expected to be an increase in the number of skilled service occupations; particularly jobs in personal services such as care, leisure and health.
What kind of skills and qualifications will be needed for the future?
The better the qualifications you have, the better you will be able to compete in the job market today and in the future.
The number of jobs that need higher qualification levels will increase in the future; particularly at degree level and above.
In contrast, the number of jobs that do not need any qualifications will decline in the next ten years.
As well as qualifications, employers also look for good soft skills in job applicants; skills such as problem solving, customer handling, team working and communication skills.
Will it pay to study for a degree?
Graduates still earn more than people, who had the entry qualifications necessary to do a degree course, but chose not to.
Graduates earn around 50 per cent more than people with sub degree level qualifications; such as Higher National Diplomas and SQA Highers.
A degree has a major influence on women's earnings; female graduates earn 64 per cent more than women with sub degree level qualifications.
Further information
For more information on the future world of work, see the following Key Messages:
