3 Industries With Strong Job Growth

Updated on August 18, 2008.

IT WAS ONLY a matter of time before the turmoil hitting the credit markets and housing industry started to take its toll on hiring.

More than 500,000 workers were handed pink slips through July 2008, according to a survey by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Among the hardest hit industries, the financial and automotive sectors shed more than 100,000 and more than 63,000 jobs, respectively. New York was hit the hardest losing a total of 84,782 positions year to date.

The unemployment rate sits at 5.7% as of July 2008 (back in 2003, it hit an annual average of 6%), but many industries, including health care and technology, are still hiring, according to Monster.com's (MNST) March employment survey. Regionally, the top growth markets according to online classified ads, include Pittsburgh, followed by Houston and Dallas.

If you've recently been laid off or are simply looking for greener pastures, here are some industries (beyond health care and technology) that are looking for workers.

Green-Collar Jobs

You don't need to have an environmental engineering degree to land a green job. John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, says people with job skills ranging from accounting to project management are being hired to help firms adopt new green initiatives, including carbon emissions reduction, and create more environmentally-friendly products.

The growing adoption of new alternative energies, such as wind and solar power, is also propelling job growth, says Challenger. While the bulk of the opportunities are in manufacturing, companies will also need to fill management and back-office functions as well, especially as demand for solar panels and wind turbines increases.

Sales

When the economy slows, companies still hire folks who can generate revenue, says Jennifer Grasz, a spokeswoman for CareerBuilder.com. Even a firm that is laying off employees in one area will continue to invest in its sales division, she says. According to CareerBuilder.com, there are currently more than 100,000 sales positions advertised on its web site. The site also found that 27% of companies that employ folks in sales plan to add more full-time workers to their rosters during the third quarter. Only those who work in technology have brighter prospects, with 37% of IT employers looking to add full-time workers.

Fortunately, if you work in sales, you can usually transfer your job skills from one industry to another fairly easily. If you're good at developing relationships and selling one product, you'll likely succeed at selling another. So if you've lost your job as, say, a mortgage broker, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to land a position pushing software or health-care services. (See our sidebar for tips on transferring job skills from one industry to another).