By Jim Damicis, Scarborough resident and Senior Vice President, Camoin Associates
As a new batch of graduates from Scarborough High School emerges, I thought it would be interesting to look at what potentially lies ahead for jobs and careers. The economy and labor force are changing rapidly due to technological advances, globalization, demographic shifts, and more. This can be very daunting and even stressful for recent high school graduates facing decisions about whether to go to college, what to study, what kinds of jobs and careers to pursue, and what skills they will need. In this article, I focus on job data in the Greater Portland region (Cumberland, York, and Sagadahoc counties combined). I include 2022 as the start year to capture recent historical trends and look ahead to job forecasts through 2034, presenting the top twenty jobs with the highest projected growth. I also focus on jobs that typically require a high school degree or higher, since we are focusing on recent high school grads.
Based on the data, the highest job growth is projected for Home Health and Personal Care Aides, with 3,157 jobs through 2034. Looking at the top ten occupations in terms of growth, a trend emerges: seven out of the top ten are in health and medical-related jobs, including Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Medical Assistants, Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Substance Abuse, Behavioral, and Mental Health Counselors, and Medical and Health Services Managers.
Surprisingly, only one of the top twenty jobs is in traditional trades: Construction Managers, which is projected to grow by 320 jobs. This is not to say that trades jobs will not be in demand. Retirements in the industry and a shortage of trained workers to replace them will create what is known as replacement demand for trade workers.
The data also reveals significant variation in hourly earnings, ranging from a low of $18.74 per hour for Home Health and Personal Care Aides to a high of $72.52 for Marketing Managers.
Takeaway for New Graduates
Graduation is an exciting time and comes with concerns and decisions about the future. The following is some guidance for new graduates and those around them offering support.
Be prepared for constant change. Many of today’s jobs didn’t even exist 10 years ago, including full-time Content Creator/Influencer, AI Developer, Telehealth Coordinator, and Genetic Counselor.
Look at education, training, jobs, and careers as a lifelong journey. Given the rapid pace of change, you will need to upskill and reskill throughout your career. Keep learning and understanding the workforce trends. A good resource for this is O*NET (www.onetonline.org). O*NET OnLine has detailed descriptions of more than 900 occupations with information on education, training, and skill requirements, projected growth, and other characteristics. It is a great resource for students, graduates, job seekers, counselors, and employers.
Build and document the skills needed across multiple jobs and industries. This does not need to be limited to degrees and includes documented skills, certifications, badges, and experiences.
Embrace and train in technology skills across all occupations, but don’t ignore communication, team building, and creativity. Technology is used in every industry. While you don’t need to know how to code, program, or build technology, you will need to know how to use it and work alongside it.
Always have a plan B and C. With rapid change comes disruption, and this includes job losses. Be thinking ahead about the kinds of jobs you can and should prepare for, and even consider plans for starting your own “side-gig” and eventually your own business. With disruption comes opportunity!
