Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Where The Jobs Are At, SolarWorld, and Stimulus Jobs

Well since there is a lot of bad news about the job market in the news today, CNN decided to take a look at the industries that are thriving. While most industries are hurting, education, health services, and accounting are thriving. With more people out of work and looking for a new career, interest in degree programs and teaching certificates has never been higher. In November the education field added 9,800 jobs! With an aging population and a greater demand for health care, health services is still going strong. In November, the health services field added 34,000 jobs and 369,000 jobs over the past 12 months! The accounting field is booming right now and gearing up for tax season. Companies are also trying to find ways to cut costs and save money, so accountants are in high demand.

In Oregon, the big thing right now is solar energy and SolarWorld of Vancouver, Washington is moving it's operation to Hillsboro, Oregon. They will remain in Vancouver and staff around 50 employees, which has been downgraded due to moving into Oregon. The transfer of operations is apart of a large investment to move to a more cost effective plant and bring more jobs to people in Oregon. The solar industry is expected to grow a lot in the next 10 years which helps those looking for jobs in this type of field. SolarWorld is the number 3 producer of Photovoltaics in the world.

Portland is on track to receive hundreds of millions of dollars of new government infastructure projects that intend to create lots of good paying jobs. The projects range from the eastside Portland Streetcar loop to improvements to Portland State University. But so far no project has been given the final approval by the politicans propsoing them, so all of the jobs are on hold for right now. That should be a relief for Oregonians, knowing that jobs are on there way but it just may not be tomorrow.

So Portland, tell us what you think about the shift in thriving industries or how solar energy is making a big push in Oregon. Or the new proposed projects that will help bring employment to the Northwest. In the meantime, we here at the employmentguide are here to help. Please leave your comments in the section below.

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