I know what you’re thinking—this is a retrospective, looking back at the rise of the West German economy in the post-war period. Or, perhaps you think this might be an examination of China’s ever-expanding economy. In either case, you would be wrong. As unbelievable as it may seem, certain segments of the American economy are in desperate need of workers, and while other sectors may be growing only slightly or even shrinking, these sectors—which are helping to cement America’s future as a knowledge-based economy—have experienced substantial sustained growth. What are these sectors, which are seemingly unreflective of the economy as a whole?
Joe Light recently reported in a Wall Street Journal article, Labor Shortage Persists in Some Fields, that some areas of the economy have, in the midst of a tremendous amount of economic turmoil, blossomed while others wilted, and still others have remained dormant. Specifically, Light reports, despite slow hiring elsewhere, many companies are in dire need of software engineers, programmers, and IT folk in general. In fact, according to Light, “there were about four unemployed people for every job opening posted online in December,” while some technology firms have been desperate to hire programmers and engineers. Although, as Light points out, finding capable and qualified applicants hasn’t been easy for such firms, and has forced some to “chang[e] their business strategy or settl[e] for less-than-perfect candidates.” This shortage of technologically-savvy personnel hasn’t only affected technology firms, however: “Accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP has 1,500 open positions in the U.S.,” reports Light, which amounts to a “70% increase from this time last year.” And although this news may not be a boon for unemployed workers without technical knowhow it should, at very least, drive job seekers to wonder whether gaining that knowledge may benefit them in long-run as the global economy and America’s labor market continues its evolution.
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