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Top News Stories
05/18/2012
High tech advances spark growth of new jobs
People with IT training and computer networking skills are finding out that advances in the field are creating an array of new jobs that didn't exist a decade ago.
"I don’t believe that new needs have been created," Charles Purdy, senior editor for Monster.com, told Forbes. "We’ve just created new ways and adopted new technologies to get them done."
One of the highest jobs in demand across the country right now is applications developer as demand surges in the mobile device market. According to the job website indeed.com, there are currently more than 16,000 listings online for mobile app developers.
Professionals with computer networking training can apply their skills to the fairly new position of market research data miner. Using data, these workers look for behavioral patterns that can help retailers predict future marketing trends.
The rising popularity of social networking has also helped to create a number of new jobs, including so-called "social media managers," who help companies leverage their online presence through marketing.
"There has been a great big shift in how companies communicate with their customers ," Purdy said.
There are currently more than 11,000 jobs listings online looking for social media managers.
One step above a social media manager is now what companies call a chief listening officer. There are the workers who use their technical skills to keep an eye and ear on industry trends.
"Before social media, business was a one way channel of communication. The company talked, we listened," Purdy said. "Now we’ve become accustomed to two-way conversations. We expect them to listen, and so we see these kinds of roles."
Demand for user experience designers is also expected to continue to rise as more companies look to develop real-life simulated experiences through technology. These workers should have knowledge of photoshop, as well as different programming languages including HTML and CSS. There are currently more than 168,000 online listings for user experience designers.
However, technology is not the only field to have created new niche markets over the past decade. According to the news agency, an aging population is helping to generate a variety of new jobs in the healthcare field, including an increase in demand for staff workers and assistants at residential facilities.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment opportunities for software developers are expected to increase much faster than the average of other occupations, by 30 percent, through 2020.
05/17/2012
Georgia laws push job growth across tech, manufacturing sectors
Georgia officials say a number of new bills passed into law this year will continue to create jobs across a variety industries, especially for people with experience in the skilled trades and IT training.
"This has been the best year in recent memory for legislation supporting economic development in Georgia," Chris Cummiskey, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, told The Weekly. "We appreciate Governor Deal’s leadership on this issue and the interest our legislators have taken in keeping Georgia on the front lines of global commerce. These new laws are great new weapons in our economic development arsenal and lay the groundwork for even more job creation in Georgia."
Several of the laws are focused on job creation in the manufacturing sector, and will help businesses compete through a series of tax cuts and credits for large and small companies.
Officials are also hoping another law aimed at eliminating the local inventory tax will help encourage job growth in the retail industry.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, professionals with postsecondary training have the potential to earn $500 more per week than those with a high school diploma or less.
