Washington, D.C. – Notwithstanding economic and political shocks, Alabama will create 790,000 new job openings over the next decade, according to a new report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. There will be 363,000 openings for new jobs and 427,000 will open up due to baby boomer retirements.

The National Picture

Nationally, four out of five of the fastest growing occupations — healthcare professionals, STEM, education, and community services — will require high levels of postsecondary education, (above 80%). Healthcare support occupations are the exception, where only 59 percent will require postsecondary.

"If the U.S. Congress can deal with budgetary challenges, we are on schedule for recovery," said Anthony P. Carnevale, Director of the Center. "But we will still face a major shortage of college-educated workers, especially as baby boomers retire."

The 'Bama Snapshot

Total employment in Alabama is projected to expand 18 percent (from 2 million to 2.4 million jobs) through 2020, slightly topping the national average of 17 percent.

Industries poised for the strongest growth over the 10 year time frame are:

• Education services, 34 percent
• Administrative and support and waste management and remediation service, 37 percent;
• Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction, 29 percent.

By occupation, jobs within healthcare support and food and personal service occupations are expected to top occupational growth at 29 percent and 24 percent, respectively. Yet, this should be a source of concern as these occupations not only yield some of the lowest wages, but they also do not have well-defined career pathways.

Further, with 62 percent of all jobs in 2020 expected to require postsecondary education, Alabama is bound to fall below the national average of 65 percent.

The agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector has the lowest growth among industries at 2 percent. Among occupations, blue-collar jobs are expected to see the slowest growth, up 14 percent through 2020.

The government will retain its position as the sector with the largest employment in Alabama, with an estimated 353,000 jobs in 2020. Similarly, sales and office support occupations will continue to account for the largest share of employment with nearly 608,000 jobs by 2020.

Finally, the report places Alabama alongside other states in showing which occupations are growing or declining and what level of education state residents will need get those jobs of the future.

Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements through 2020, comprises an executive summary, a national report card and a state-level analysis. These are available online at http://cew.georgetown.edu/recovery2020.

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce is an independent, nonprofit research and policy institute that studies the link between individual goals, education and training curricula and career pathways. The Center is affiliated with the Georgetown Public Policy Institute. For more information, visit: http://cew.georgetown.edu. Follow us on Twitter @Cntredwrkfrce and on Facebook.