Hard to Fill Occupations
Anyone who’s ridden the London transit system knows this oft-broadcasted warning: “Mind the gap.” Both government and private analysts of the job market pay attention to the gap.
But rather than a dangerous chasm, this gap – which measures the difference between the need for workers with certain skills and qualified applicants – spells opportunity.
Sometimes, “When an occupation is hard to fill, there [are] usually some specific skills in short supply, even if the occupation doesn’t require a specialized degree or training,” says Dan Restuccia of labor market analytics firm BurningGlass.
“For example, sales representatives, on the whole, aren’t hard-to-fill positions,” explains Restuccia. “But employers have trouble finding sales representatives for both financial investments and oil and gas extractions. These positions call for specific knowledge of fields like financial planning and petrochemicals, which is a little more specialized and therefore in shorter supply.”
Some regions of the country have more difficulty attracting certain skilled workers than other regions, adds Restuccia.
Visit a local “one-stop career center” to find out about local labor needs, suggests Rob Sewell of the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.
Every two years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and most states make projections on occupations with the largest employment growth (defined as adding most jobs) and on fastest growing occupations with the biggest percentage gains. The BLS projections for 2012 to 2022 were released late 2013, and most states released their forecast late last year. See state data at Projectioncentral.com.
The skill needs change. In the latest BLS list of occupations with the largest numeric growth, secretaries and administrative assistants – except legal, medical and executive – made the number seven spot, but did not appear in the top ten growth position in the BLS projection made in 2004.