If you've got the skills, these industries are hiring
By Carol Kopp
It's no surprise that so-called temporary jobs
have been easier to get than permanent employment, years after the
Great Recession ended. A new study shows that there's a real boom in
those no-ties jobs, for workers who have the right skills.
If you're willing to take a shot, there's even a chance of a permanent full-time job down the road.
That's the message of a new report by CareerBuilder and Economic
Modeling Specialists International (EMSI). They trawled through a
database that pulls from more than 90 national and state employment
resources to find out what jobs are in demand, and where they're most
likely to be found.
Here are the jobs in middle- to high-paying fields that are showing the most growth in demand in 2014. They're listed in order of the greatest growth in openings, with the median hourly earnings they pay:
> Find a job as a Human resources specialist: $26.83
> Find a job as a Customer service rep: $14.70
> Find a job as a Construction laborer: $14.42
> Find a job as an Administrative assistant: $15.58
> Find a job as a Registered nurse: $31.48
> Find a job in Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing: $16.91
> Find a job in General maintenance and repair workers: $16.93
> Find a job as an Inspector, tester, sorter, sampler or weigher: $16.57
> Find a job as a Truck driver: $18.37
> Find a job as a Machinist: $18.99
> Find a job as a Sales rep or other sales professional: $24.45
> Find a job in Computer support: $22.32
All of those job categories show 3 percent to 4 percent growth in demand from 2013 to 2014.
If those job skills are in the highest demand, the general trend is
clear. Nearly 3 million Americans were employed in temporary jobs in
2013, an increase of 28 percent since 2010, according to EMSI. That far
outpaces the 5 percent growth rate for all jobs.
In a new Harris Poll commissioned by CareerBuilder, 42 percent of
employers reported that they plan to hire temporary or contract workers
in 2014, up from 40 percent last year.
Of these employers, some 43 percent plan to transition some of their temporary employees into full-time, permanent staff jobs.
"Coming off of a hard-hitting recession, companies want more flexibility
in their workforce to quickly ramp up and ramp down their businesses as
needed. Temporary workers provide that flexibility," said Eric Gilpin,
president of CareerBuilder's Staffing & Recruiting Group, in a
statement. "Temporary employment is growing across industries and
metros, and providing great opportunities for workers to test-drive
different work experiences and network with employers."
CareerBuilder and EMSI also compiled a list of the metropolitan areas
that are showing the fastest growth in temporary employment in 2014.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
tops the list, with a projected 8 percent growth in the number of
temporary job openings from 2013 to 2014, followed by Indianapolis,
Indiana, at 7 percent.
Other hot metro areas included Seattle-Tacoma, WA, Orlando, FL;
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA; Memphis, TN; Detroit, MI; Portland, OR,
Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; Dallas, TX, and Atlanta, GA.
Though the new study focuses on temporary jobs, its generally positive
findings are echoed in the latest numbers on employment. Government data
released last week showed the number of Americans filing for
unemployment benefits the previous week close to a three-month low.
Meanwhile, factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region rebounded.
Those reports were seen as a sign of a stronger economic recovery ahead, after a long hard winter.