If you’re hiring for any of these positions, expect to see a lot of good candidates coming in the door early in the year.
The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics released its end-of-2009 figures showing which jobs suffered the most layoffs and had the fewest available openings:
- Architects. Losses in the profession hit 17.8%. The hitch here is that the building industry is so volatile that the need for architects could jump by the end of the year.
- Carpenters. The drop in building has hit this group hard. Nearly 270,000 jobs disappeared, a 17% drop. But as with architects, there could be some activity in this job category by the end of 2010.
- Production supervisors and assembly workers. Combine the movement to non-U.S. facilities and the dismal economy, and what you get is a 16% drop in jobs. And most analysts expect worse times for this sector.
- Pilots. Sully Sullenberger probably won’t have to worry, but many of his colleagues will. Jobs for pilots and flight engineers dropped by 30.4%. The outlook could get sunny if the economy grows; so will air travel and the need for pilots.
- Computer software engineers. Blame this one on the move to offshore programming. The field saw a 10% decline. But if you’re a hiring manager, don’t expect the glut in these types of job-seekers to last too long. Typically, when the economy picks up, employers tend to play catch-up with hiring IT people, and there could be a shortage before you know it.
- Mechanical engineers. Jobs in the profession fell by nearly 18%. The source of the big hit: the decline of the automotive industry. A strong economy generally results in a shortage of engineering types in general, so when the economy rebounds, so should the profession.
- Construction workers. Again, it’s all about the housing and building markets. Demand for laborers fell by 14 percent. The future of the market depends largely on how quickly and how many federal stimulus dollars get pumped into the economy.
- Tellers. Automation and a bad year for banking led to a 12% drop. Analysts expect a slight rebound in the field as banks make a comeback.
- Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks. More reflections of the troubles in the financial sector: jobs in this field fell 13%. Things could get better for an unexpected reason. If government, as promised, produces a string of new regulations on the financial industry, the need for bookkeeper types could expand as employers scramble to keep up with the regs.
