Job outlook in Indiana better than the national average

Indiana's employment is expected to grow by 302,600 jobs by 2014, according to the latest projections from Indiana's Department of Workforce Development. This is a growth rate of 10 percent with employment increasing from 3,056,560 in 2004 to 3,359,170 by 2014. Another 742,160 job openings are anticipated to replace retirees and others departing from the workforce.

The areas of job growth will be a mixture of skilled and semi-skilled positions, according to the outlook.

The top 10 occupations that are projected to have the most job openings are listed below:

1) Retail salespersons -- 39,050

2) Cashiers -- 37,710

3) Wait staff -- 32,050

4) Food preparers -- 30,760

5) Team assemblers -- 27,170

6) Registered nurses -- 26,260

7) Manufacturing laborers -- 24,270

8) Janitors and cleaners -- 18,420

9) Truck drivers -- 16,450

10) Office administrators -- 14,500

The large number of total openings for retail salespersons, cashiers, waiters and waitresses, and combined food preparation and serving workers are due to growth in industries associated with leisure and hospitality. Another reason for the large growth numbers is due to the reality that workers move in and out of these jobs quickly, creating openings via replacements.

The large growth and openings for registered nurses are due to the increasing demand for health care services, as well as an aging out of this population's workforce. It is no surprise that Indiana will see high growth in most health and service sector occupations, as it will follow the national trend of increasing health care needs as the population ages.

Indiana has had many events that brought jobs to the state, such as Honda deciding to locate in Greensburg, and Toyota building automobiles in Lafayette. Indiana's Major Moves initiative will provide careers in the construction industry that require a variety of skills and educational experience. Growth in construction and extraction occupations will exceed the state's overall average.

However, the employment brought about by Major Moves and other economic development initiatives will not be limited to construction. Production occupations are projected to increase by nearly two percent. This occupational group has declined and is expected to continue declining nationally, which makes the projected turnaround in Indiana quite notable.

Indiana's fastest growing list largely mirrors the national list, with the exception of the gaming occupations and biomedical engineers. While biomedical engineering is a fast growing occupation nationally, this occupation is growing even faster in Indiana (44 percent versus the national 31 percent). Indiana has aggressively pursued industries in the life sciences industries and already had a solid base in this area.

The following list displays the 10 fastest growing occupations in Indiana that had an employment level of at least 100 in 2004. Six of the 10 occupations are a part of the professional group, and the remaining four occupations are all from the services group.

1) Home health aides -- 4,530 new jobs

2) Medical assistants -- 3,560

3) Computer analysts -- 1,750

4) Dental hygienists -- 1,650

5) Computer engineers -- 1,180

6) Network systems analysts -- 1,000

7) Physician assistants -- 300

8) Biomedical engineers -- 170

9) Slot key persons -- 170

10) Gaming security/surveillance -- 100

In the Indiana Job Outlook, Indiana's occupational projections include a display of occupations along with the most common educational attainment required and the median wages earned for each occupation. It is clear that most of the fastest growing occupations require greater education and are the highest paying jobs. All of the educational attainment groups requiring a degree have a median annual wage of more than $42,000, and jobs are expected to grow at double-digit rates. All jobs that require no post-secondary education are expected to grow at a rate below 10 percent. Occupations requiring only short-term on-the-job training pay a median wage of $19,942-less than half of any of the educational attainment groups requiring a degree.

Once again, it appears that education pays and provides the greatest opportunities.