ILMR: New and Emerging Occupations

This is the first of a two-part article—the first dealing with new and emerging occupations (NEOs) that are becoming or emerging as important to the economy. The second part will look at jobs of the future, looking at the research of Philips Electronics and other futurists’ advancements in emerging technologies. Both were pre-sented at the Fifth Biennial Statewide Conference of the Illinois Occupational Information Coordinating Committee of which the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Department of Employment Security are members.

BLS Defines NEOs
New and emerging occupations have been described by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as occupations that are “becoming numerically important or emerging due to technological change and are specific to the new or emerging industries they are born to.” 1 This definition was developed by BLS and the occupations found in 1998 continue to be those described as emerging occupations today. The Bureau now characterizes these emerging occupations as “new occupations created by changes in technology, society, markets or regulations. Emerging occupations may also be created by existing occupations that have been substantially modified by the same changes, and are increasing in employment.” 2 TABLE 1 (below) provides a brief description of these new occupations.

What is new and emerging also may be described by its stability, penetration (i.e. the increase in actual numbers of jobs), the turnover, confidence, participation, new starts, landscape and investment of the workplace. Three states performed significant studies and recom-mended plans in the mid- to late 1990’s. And some were quite different than the BLS changes that are now officially accepted. In addition, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) looked at future growth occupations. First, I’d like to share that work, then discuss the work of California, Texas and Minnesota. To complete this first article, I’d like to discuss the initiatives of the Illinois Board of Higher Education in dealing with shortages in the workplace.

Need to Match OES Jobs with NEOs
The AACC conducted a study in 1993 to identify those emerging occupations that require higher skills, pay higher wages, and require some post-secondary education.3 These occupations were expected to grow an average of 22 percent through the year 2005. The 32 occupations identified in the study (click here to see TABLE 2) are categorized into seven fields. If one compares these occupations with the current listing in statewide Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), one finds a growing mismatch between some of the OES occupations listed and those given here. Since these occupations were discussed in the early 1990’s, there has been significant growth in some areas. However, a decline in need in Illinois is seen in other areas due to technological changes. The table also gives the current job projections for those occupations that have similar listings between AACC terminology and the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s OES codes. However, where possible a comparison is made if one category is part of another. For instance, in Table 2, restaurant cooks were compared to the need for executive chefs, yet the BLS/OES category is larger than that for executive chef. Likewise, many of the new professions in information technology are compared to the older terms used in BLS. It should be remembered that the new professional categories were developed so that community colleges could develop programs in these areas. However, especially in the arena of computers and information technology, there is a need for more and better descriptions—in both educational programs and the BLS. California was the first state to look at new and emerging occupations. In 1994, the California Employment Development Department defined an occupation as emerging if, “it is totally new and created because of a technological innovation, an existing occupation that has undergone a substantial degree of modification, or an occupation that has existing occupations.”4

The state found that Total Quality Management had created new occupations in quality assurance, while concern for safety in the workplace had led to occupations such as ergonomic analysts and engineers. The laser industry was growing in the area of fiber optics and the number of historical consultants was increasing due to the need for research before construction of historical entities.

The Texas SOICC conducted research in 1996 to identify emerging and evolving occupations in Texas that did not match any current OES code.6 They found 14 specific titles and 14 clusters, 9 dealing with the computer and data processing sector, while the other 5 clusters were in the manufacturing, financial services, professional services, telecommunications, trade and transportation, and energy, utilities and conservation sectors. The most significant emerging or evolving occupations that did not require a bachelor’s degree were: computer networking technician, object-oriented computer programmer, computer support technician, customer support specialist, data/information specialist, semiconductor technician, automation/robotics technician, automatic teller machine services and clerk, insurance reimbursement specialist and multimedia specialist.

Skill Requirements Change
In research conducted by the Research and Statistics Office, the Minnesota Department of Employment Security in 1997 surveyed state firms about job titles and required skills necessary to perform the job.7 They were asked, if there had been any skill requirement changes over the past five years. Of the 4,700 Minnesota firms asked, 828 firms responded and identified 1,960 job titles that had undergone significant change. Almost half of the new titles dealt with computing, while 22 titles fell into the quality control and the production cluster. In conclusion, Minnesota identified 100 new and emerging occupations in 1997, grouped into six occupational categories: computers and information technology, production and manufacturing, community and social services, health services, industrial health and safety, and management and quality control. The computer science, technology, and information area (49 percent of the new titles) included PC specialist and support, Internet, specialized applications, software engineering and development, and managerial. These job titles do not currently have an OES code and were first-time hires by firms in Minnesota, yet met the change requirements of team skills, resource skills, analysis skills, communications skills, and systems skills. The titles must have shown significant change in use of workplace tools, such as computer software and telecommunications.

At an IT conference held at Motorola University in the fall of 1999 and sponsored by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Tim Krauskop (developer of the Mosaic Browser, the precursor to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer) discussed the growing misfit of job titles and categories, saying: “the computer scientist curriculum is for software design, but for what application? The term, computer programmer is a throwback to the 60’s when they performed code maintenance. And, a systems analyst isn’t close to even being useful.” He challenged education to partner with industry to provide better computer literacy and computer programming for high school students, and not teach applied computer science/programming in college. And he reiterated that “web site design is not core curriculum.” This is an example of the growing mismatch between jobs and classifications especially in computer and technical areas.

Fewer New IT Jobs
The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) performed a survey in 1997 and found almost 30 types of jobs, from creative director and design manager to production engineer, software developer, and numerous Web jobs, like Web editor, Web system administrator, Web system designer, and Web technologist. In April 2001, the ITAA performed another survey, “When Can You Start? Building Better Information Technology Skills and Careers,” exploring market conditions for the overall information technology (IT) workforce and the demand for qualified workers. The study found a substantial gap still exists between demand and supply, in spite of a drop in new IT jobs. The jobs this article lists are: technical support, database development and administration, programming/software engineering, Web development or administration, network design and administration, technical writing, enterprise systems integration, and digital media. Employment is expected to increase, with a shortfall of 425,000 new IT jobs in 2001. This increase is down 44 percent, due to the losses seen in the high tech sector, yet the shortfall of workers is still expected. This is true for IT and non-IT companies. The gap in qualified applicants is expected to close significantly, however, in the next year.

Higher Education Partners with Employers
The Illinois Board of Higher Education has moved forward with studies of need—especially in the area of information technology. From the first conference in 1998 to the second conference 1999, the Illinois Board of Higher Education has worked to expand the number of programs in information technology in the state. The Board also adopted The Illinois Commitment: Partnerships, Opportunities, and Excellence in February 1999 that has as Goal 1: Higher Education will help Illinois business and industry sustain strong economic growth. This includes updating instruction, curricula, and assessment on the basis of surveys of employers; expanding opportunities for work-based learning; expanding business-university partnerships; streamlining program development; adjusting capacity of occupational and professional programs to meet demand; and expanding opportunities to advance knowledge. In a report last October, it was noted that enrollments in information technology programs had increased by 10,000 and the number of graduates rose by 1,300. The number of programs in information technology at Illinois colleges and universities jumped from 315 to 892. The challenge now is to retain Illinois graduates for the Illinois economy.

1 Monthly Labor Review: The Editor's Desk. "New Occupations Emerging Across Industry Lines," November 8, 1998.

2 Occupational Employment Statistics, BLS."New and Emerging Occupations in Occupational Employment and Wages, 1996", U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 1998 Bulletin 2506.

3 ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges, "Future Growth Occupations" EDINFO Number 6 or http://www.gseis.usla.edu/ERIC/edinfos/EDINFO6.HTML.

4 California Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information, "Emerging Professional Occupations," 1994.

5 State of Illinois Department of Employment Security, Economic Information and Analysis Division, Statewide Occupational Projections 1998-2008.

6 The Career Development Resources (CDR) Department of the Texas Workforce, "Emerging and Evolving Occupations in Texas" at http://www.cdr.state.tx.us/emerging/index.htm.

7 Minnesota Department of Economic Security, "Emerging Occupational Clusters in Minnesota," 1998.

Donna M. Corriveau is currently the Assistant Directer of Academic Affairs with the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Her background includes both medical technology and education. She holds an MA degree in Medical Technology from University of Illinois and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Illinois’ Department of Administration, Higher and Continuing Education. Dr. Corriveau has provided leadership and policy direction in the areas of business needs, occupational and employment projections, identification of emerging occupations and the match between programs and demand. This article is based on her presentation,“Emerging Occupations,” given at the Illinois Occupational Information Coordinating Committee’s 1998 fall conference.