By Caryl and Ronald L. Krannich Ph.Ds
Courtesy of Impact Publications

Career experts Drs. Ron and Caryl Krannich in their newly released The Best Jobs For the 21st Century identify 33 major trends affecting both the work force and the work place. The following 13 trends should prove to be the most important for the decade ahead:

1. Shortage of competent workers, with basic literacy and learning skills, creates serious problems in developing an economy with an adequate work force for the jobs of the 21st century.
2. After five years of unprecedented economic growth and full employment, another boom/bust cycle kicks in at the turn of the century and unemployment nearly doubles to 8 percent.
3. New jobs will be created at the rate of 1 to 2 million each year, with some boom years resulting in the creation of more than 3 million jobs.
4. A major shortage of skilled craftspeople will create numerous production, distribution, and service problems throughout the coming decade.
5. Retirement practices undergo a major transformation. More job and career choices will be available for the elderly who are either dissatisfied with traditional retirement or who no longer can afford the high costs of retirement.
6. More immigrants will enter the U.S. to meet labor shortages at all levels.
7. Part-time and temporary employment opportunities will increase.
8. The need for a smarter work force with specific technical skills will continue to impact on the traditional American education system as both businesses and parents demand greater job and career relevance in educational curriculum.
9. The number of small businesses will continue to increase as new opportunities for entrepreneurs arise in response to the high-tech and service revolutions and as more individuals find new opportunities to experiment with changing careers.
10. Job satisfaction will become a major problem as many organizations will experience difficulty in retaining highly qualified personnel.
11. The hot jobs in the decade ahead--those offering excellent pay, advancement, and security--will be in healthcare and high-tech service industries.
12. More and more skilled and high-tech service jobs will move off-shore as U.S. businesses take advantage of both cheap skilled labor and high-speed communications.
13. Fewer people will be obsessed with chasing traditional careers. More and more people want satisfying jobs that enable them to pursue interesting lifestyle goals.