WHAT’S HOT, AND WHAT’S NOT
If you are a personal trainer or maybe an aerobic dance instructor, the good news is, you are in demand. Jobs in your field grew 32 percent since 2008. The bad news? Your average yearly salary is $16,148.
If you are a new hire at a credit bureau (Atlanta-based Equifax is a $2.2 billion international company) you might be able to eyeball that shiny red convertible. Though only 296 have been hired since 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they are knocking down an average salary of $145,827.
Here are some of metro Atlanta’s winners and losers in the hiring game as the region crawls out of the Great Recession:
Tops in salary
Credit bureau, $145,827
Administrative management, $119,853
Computer system design, $94,979
Custom computer programming, $92,246
Certified public accountant, $91,975
Hoping for more
Parking lot workers, $21,280
Sports instructors, $19,961
Bar workers, $18,796
Services for the disabled and elderly, $18,085
Fitness center employees, $16,148
Fastest growing fields by percentage since 2008
Payroll services, 82 percent
Motion picture production, 69 percent
Services for elderly and disabled, 56 percent
Bar worker, 43 percent
Child and youth services, 43 percent
Growth leaders by number of jobs
Medical and surgical hospitals, 10,096
Temporary help, 8,219
Payroll services, 4,173
Supermarkets, 2,921
Insurance companies, 2,856
Registered nurses. Payroll clerks. Insurance underwriters. Grocery store baggers. And just about any temp worker.
These are the red-hot Atlanta jobs coming out of the recession.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the request of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, analyzed 2008-2013 data to determine the fastest-growing jobs across metro Atlanta. Matthew Dotson, an economist, drilled down below broad categories to discover the 25 hottest jobs and what they pay.
The only industry to add at least 10,000 jobs: Hospitals.
"If you're an RN, you're a hot commodity," said Jill Morrisey, executive director of neurosciences and urology at Piedmont Healthcare who was hired a year ago. "An aging population, longer-life expectancies and higher demand for health care services will (ensure) that the industry grows despite what happens with the economy."
Eleven of the 25 high-growth jobs fall under the professional and business services category. Computer programmers. Security guards. CPAs. Temps. Consultants. Janitors.
“Our industry this year is exceeding expectations,” said Dan Campbell, who runs Hire Dynamics, a temporary staffing agency in Duluth with eight offices around Atlanta. “Full-time hiring is still lagging dramatically behind growth in our business. Companies remain uncertain about the future and want to reduce their risk by using a higher percentage of staffing than in past (recoveries).”
Campbell places 3,000 workers weekly in factories, warehouses, call centers and offices. Placements are up 5 percent to 8 percent this year over last, he said.
Atlanta’s job growth largely mirrors the nation’s. Health care, temp work, computer programming and retail jobs are easiest to find nationwide. So too are jobs at supermarkets and grocery stores. Atlanta counts 856 food stores, adding 51 over the last five years, according to the BLS’s Dotson.
An additional 3,000 baggers, cashiers, managers and shelf stockers have been hired during that period, a 7 percent rise that tracks the national surge.
“During the recession, people really cut out entertainment and eating out,” said Jeffrey Wenger, an economist at the University of Georgia. “So a lot of those restaurant dollars flowed to grocery stores for obvious reasons — they were a good substitute. Instead of eating out at Chili’s, a family of four will save that $60 dollars and go to the supermarket and buy dinner.”
The job surge has helped lower Atlanta’s unemployment rate from 9.4 percent (May 2009) to 7.3 percent (May 2014). Economists, though, say the jobs picture should be brighter a half-decade after the recession’s official demise. They also note that, despite the surge in hiring in certain industries, wages haven’t appreciably risen.
“We’ve created an awful lot of part-time jobs and out-sourced an awful lot of business services,” Wegner said. “A lot of those jobs don’t look great: drinking places, janitorial services, supermarkets and youth services. These are not good-paying jobs typically.”
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