Labor Department Releases Report on Demand Occupations in TN

HOT CAREERS TO 2020 IDENTIFIES OPENINGS, SALARY, AND REQUIRED EDUCATION

NASHVILLE – The TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development released today a report of Tennessee jobs predicted to be in demand for the next seven years. Labor uses Bureau of Labor Statistics information to compile the occupations as a tool for those who are entering the workforce or are changing careers. Tennessee’s Hot Careers to 2020 can be viewed online at http://www.tn.gov/labor-wfd/outlooks/statewide.pdf.

“This is the statewide report, and in the coming weeks we will release the information on the local workforce areas as well,” said Employment Security Administrator Linda Davis. “Successful employment is increased greatly when students and dislocated workers make educated decisions about their career paths.”

The Hot Careers to 2020 report offers users the unique feature of comparing individual strengths to a wide range of career opportunities that will be in demand. For example, job candidates skilled in the art of persuasion have a myriad of opportunities to consider in the fields of production supervision, purchasing, financial analysis and fitness training.  Some of the highest paying careers within the report are industrial engineers, software systems developers and financial analysts, with median salaries of $70,821, $74,661 and $68,637, respectively.  Job seekers with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree can expect robust worker demand in areas such as computer network administration, healthcare, social work, and accounting. Jobs with the highest average annual openings include accountants, teachers, food servers, truck drivers, and sales representatives.   

Davis, who is now the Administrator of Employment Security, has monitored labor market information in Tennessee for the past 30 years. “What is encouraging is that we have such a diverse range of jobs listed ranging from the very specialized occupations requiring a degree, to those that require very little work experience,” said Davis. “The data have been shown to be reliable given the amount of time in which the jobs are being forecast.”

This information was calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics program. The OES program collects data on wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in order to produce employment and wage estimates for about 800 occupations. The OES program surveys approximately 200,000 establishments nationally every six months, taking three years to fully collect the sample of 1.2 million establishments.

Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s labor market information can be found online at http://www.jobs4tn.gov/analyzer/default.asp?

Below are samples of jobs from the “Tennessee’s Hot Careers to 2020” report.

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