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Get ready for O.C.'s fastest growing jobs

October 15th, 2009, 3:00 am · 8 Comments · posted by Mary Ann Milbourn

Jobs in Orange County won't grow as much as once expected, but employment is still projected to increase 13.4% over the 10 years from 2006 to 2016, according to a new report released today.

cg1d7The recession will hold back job growth from the 18% originally projected for 2004 to 2014, but local employment slowly will come back, said Wallace Walrod, vice president research and economic development at the Orange County Business Council, who helped prepare the report.

"We've reset the bar lower," he said.  "The growth rate might be similar to the past but we will never recover the lost job growth (of the last two years)," he said.

Many of Orange County's traditional sectors will begin growing again including manufacturing,  health care, business services and technology, said Walrod.  He also expects a spurt in new small businesses from Orange County's entrepreneurs. Financial services, including the mortgage industry, and construction will lag.

People looking to transition into other work might consider these jobs identified as the five fastest growing occupations:

  1. Network systems data analyst
  2. Home health aide
  3. Occupational therapist assistant
  4. Gaming sports writer
  5. Substance abuse counselor

In terms of absolute numbers, the report says traditionally lower-paid service sector will see the largest growth.  They include retail sales, waitresses, cashiers and customer service representatives.  The report hopes the county can provide job training to help those workers advance into better-paying jobs.

The "Orange County Workforce Indicators Report 2009-2010," prepared by the OCBC and the Orange County Workforce Investment Board, is being presented today at the 8th Annual Workforce Development Conference.

Read the full report HERE.

Did you miss these other jobs and economy stories ...

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 8 Comments

  • Ed says:
    October 15, 2009 at 8:08 am

    Intereting list. I wonder if they factor in population growth, along with immigration from other states and other countries? (both legal and illegal) Granted this is a projection over 10 years, but if you put it over today's unemployment numbers, you're looking at a negative. Also "Gaming sports writer"....really? Whadda ya know! I am a sports fan, but think there's way too much of this already. More just adds to the hype and annoyance. The people that need THAT much sports coverage need to get out more, or have a gambling problem. Of which they can reach out to number 5, the substance abuse counselors who might be able to point them in the right direction. ;-)

  • CJ Styles says:
    October 15, 2009 at 9:58 am

    WOW....Substance abuse counselors is #5. Are you freaking kidding me!!! The only reason why it's on the list; is because the cops, lawyers, judges, jails, & other government employees need a reason to feel like they’re needed to extort more money from us tax payers with real jobs...Don't you know that over 80% of the court cases in orange county are backed up because of it. Hell most of us that live here are already living like our degenerate brothers & sisters down south. Now I don't mean the people living in the South OC, they hire these Illegal’s for everything anyways. So why don't we adopt Mexico’s new drug policy. That is if you have lees that a gram of Meth, Cocaine, Or Heroin, is considered personal use, also less that 1OZ of marijuana is the same as well.

  • OCReal says:
    October 15, 2009 at 10:17 am

    Interesting, they lowered the bar instead of focusing on ways to attract better paying jobs and more companies to the O.C. What are they getting paid for - just to report the poor numbers and do nothing about it?

    • Mary Ann Milbourn says:
      October 15, 2009 at 10:36 am

      I'm the reporter who wrote this. The report is 50 pages long and I just wrote about a small part of it. You're welcome to read the whole thing http://www.ocbc.org/research_wi_report.cfm It is intended to be a planning document to be used as a road map for government to develop education and training programs. Whether they will follow through is another story.

  • 2nd Amendment Sis says:
    October 15, 2009 at 10:42 am

    Hmm ... judging from the earlier comments, some buttons have been pushed. Mine was the line, ... "The report hopes the county can provide job training to help those workers advance into better-paying jobs." Wake up call, people! Not everyone is college (or even high school) material. If some service workers are intelligent enough to be educated and advance out of that sector, more power to them. However, most service workers that I have run across in my life are there for a reason, namely they just don't have the mental capacity to hold a white collar job or to do skilled labor (HVAC repair, plumber, auto mechanic, etc.)

    Plus, we need service workers. They form an important part of our economic picture. These jobs were never intended as careers with an income sufficient to support a family and advance up the corporate ladder, but they still need to be filled, regardless of the economic underclass that they create.

  • Techie714 says:
    October 15, 2009 at 1:06 pm

    Dont go into IT we have enough people already, we dont need anymore competition on this space...hehe J/K

  • cynthia says:
    October 15, 2009 at 6:50 pm

    Well in Orange County, most of the manufactoring and low service jobs are held by Latino immirgants. So, probably as one states few will advance. i doubt that with demand down for going out to eat and even the low skilled factory jobs going to China that both sectors will gain that much employment.

  • TheAllKnowing says:
    October 16, 2009 at 1:34 am

    Who needs to get ready?

    We already know what the fastest growing jobs are.

    Working for the government.

    That sector keeps growing.

    And growing.

    And growing.

    And growing.