June 16, 2011, 12:01 a.m. EDT
Your well-paid, middle-class job is in danger
Some highly paid workers may find they need to switch careers
By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The job market is changing, and it’s not just manufacturing jobs that are disappearing. Even some highly-paid workers may find themselves needing to re-tool their skills in the years ahead.
The ongoing movement of jobs to countries where labor is cheaper, plus the development of new technologies, may mean fewer opportunities for some well-paid positions in the U.S. over the next decade, said Larry Katz, an economist at Harvard University.
“Employment growth has stopped, or even declined, among many middle- class jobs that are high wage” and don’t require a college degree, Katz said.
“A lot of traditional middle-class, upper-middle-class jobs have been disappearing. If you look at general managers and middle-management jobs, those are ones that have been in decline and will decline further,” he said.
Workers making about $40,000 to $80,000 a year constitute the bulk of labor costs for many companies, and these workers may be on the chopping block, said Jeffrey Joerres, chief executive of ManpowerGroup, a Milwaukee-based staffing services firm.
“That’s your middle class,” Joerres said. “Companies are finding ways to reduce the number of people in those areas, and change the jobs to make them more simple, to reduce the skill that is required.”
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Here are the 10 fastest growing occupations from 2008 to 2018, and their median wages, according to the Labor Department:
Biomedical engineers, median wages of $77,400
Network systems and data communications analysts, $71,100
Home health aides, $20,460
Personal and home care aides, $19,180
Financial examiners, $70,930
Medical scientists, except epidemiologists, $72,590
Physician assistants, $81,230
Skin care specialists, $28,730
Biochemists and biophysicists, $82,840
Athletic trainers, $39,640
Here are the 10 fastest declining occupations:
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders, $23,680
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders, $23,970
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders, $25,400
Shoe machine operators and tenders, $25,090
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers, $31,160
Sewing machine operators, $19,870
Semiconductor processors, $32,230
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders, $22,620
Postal Service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, $50,020
Fabric menders, except garment, $28,470
Full story: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/your-well-paid-middle-class-job-is-in-danger-2011-06-16
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