Against the backdrop of a struggling economy and rising unemployment, which occupations have the most openings?
Retail salespersons are projected to have the largest amount of job openings during the 2006-2016 time period, according to a report by the Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
About half of all the occupations in the top 25 list are in the lowest earnings quartile (or making under $20.180, according to BLS). Among some of the highest-paid jobs on the list are registered nurses (5th on the list), postsecondary teachers (10) and sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing (18)
Most of the occupations on the list require only short or moderate--term on-the-job training. Only four--postsecondary teachers, elementary school teachers (13), auditors and accountants (22) and general and operations managers (23) require a Bachelor's degree or higher.
25 Occupations with the Most Openings
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|
Occupation |
Job
Openings |
Earnings Quartile |
1 |
Retail salespersons |
193,521 |
$ |
2 |
Cashiers, except gaming |
166,437 |
$ |
3 |
Waiters and waitresses |
153,712 |
$ |
4 |
Customer service representatives |
115,840 |
$$ |
5 |
Registered nurses |
100,079 |
$$$$ |
6 |
Office clerks, general |
99,080 |
$$ |
7 |
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
92,656 |
$ |
8 |
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand |
82,304 |
$ |
9 |
Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners |
80,184 |
$ |
10 |
Postsecondary teachers |
66,178 |
$$$$ |
11 |
Child care workers |
64,648 |
$ |
12 |
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks |
59,430 |
$$ |
13 |
Elementary school teachers, except special education |
54,544 |
$$$ |
14 |
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer |
52,297 |
$$$ |
15 |
Personal and home care aides |
51,855 |
$ |
16 |
Executive secretaries and administrative assistants |
49,668 |
$$$ |
17 |
Receptionists and information clerks |
48,882 |
$$ |
18 |
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products |
47,551 |
$$$$ |
19 |
Maids and housekeeping cleaners |
46,273 |
$ |
20 |
Home health aides |
45,408 |
$ |
21 |
Food preparation workers |
45,086 |
$ |
22 |
Accountants and auditors |
44,977 |
$$$$ |
23 |
General and operations managers |
44,067 |
$$$$ |
24 |
Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession and coffee shop |
42,390 |
$ |
25 |
First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers |
45,748 |
$$$ |