Workplace

Layoffs are still happening left and right, but there are some industries that are actually hiring right now. Here’s a list, courtesy of Newsweek magazine:

• National security agencies – including border protection, and import and export management. In the next two years, the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security expect to add 80,000 new jobs. If you already have a security clearance, you’re one step ahead of the competition.
• Then there’s alternative energy. Federal and state governments have begun investing heavily in solar, wind, and nuclear power. Especially since the Obama administration is firmly focused on clean energy initiatives.
• Any business that’s “green.” The United Nations estimates that green projects create more than six million jobs a year. Existing businesses that are going green, and new environmentally-friendly companies need environmental scientists, engineers, and consultants.
• The health care industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, half of the 30 fastest-growing occupations are in the health care field. Jobs include nurses, medical assistants, physician assistants, home health aides, medical records technicians, and physical and occupational therapists.
• Education. State governments expect to hire 2.8 million new grade-school teachers over the next eight years, and textbook companies need sales executives to help create, update, and distribute textbooks and other educational materials to schools nationwide.
  
  

So, update your job skills, fire off your résumés, because there are jobs out there if you know where to look.