The Central New York and Southern Tier job markets are hardly booming, but for some jobs, candidates are in demand. The health-care field has a few of those positions.
The New York State Department of Labor on Jan. 20 issued a list of the top five trending jobs for this year in regions around the state, based on what employers are telling the agency are the jobs they are struggling to fill.
In Central New York (Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties), the following job titles (and their annual median wage) are likely to see greater than normal growth through the end of 2015, the Labor Department said:
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• Industrial-machinery mechanic ($49,620)
• Certified nursing assistant ($27,630)
• Electrician ($52,870)
• Welder ($36,710)
• Registered nurse ($59,130)
In the Southern Tier (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties), these five job titles (and their annual median wage) are likely to see higher than normal growth through the end of 2015:
• Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers ($37,290)
• Nursing assistants ($28,480)
• Personal-care aides ($23,200)
• Customer-service representatives ($31,380)
• Registered nurses ($65,660)
The lists are based on occupational survey data and regional needs projected by the state Labor Department’s regional analysts, the agency said in a news release.
These jobs are in demand despite a tepid overall job market in Central New York and the Southern Tier. The Syracuse metro area lost 1,800 total jobs between December 2013 and this past December, the most jobs lost of any New York state metro area, according to Labor Department data released Jan. 22.
The Binghamton metro area gained 500 jobs over the same 12-month span, an increase of 0.5 percent. But, that’s still shy of the state’s 1.2 percent job growth.
Karen Knapik-Scalzo, the state Labor Department’s regional labor-market analyst for Central New York, says the list looks at short- and long-term projections for job openings. The top five trending jobs are a sampling of employer-reported shortages, she says.
In CNY, health care and skilled manufacturing workers are in demand, according to Knapik-Scalzo. “Those two industries were the two largest ones in terms of need,” she says.
The list also helps apprenticeship programs and community colleges determine where to focus their training, Knapik-Scalzo says.
The Southern Tier is not seeing much growth in the private sector, which is making it difficult for people to find jobs and keep their skills up to date, says Christian Harris, the agency’s regional labor-market analyst for the Southern Tier. Many potential workers lack the soft skills — getting to work on time, problem solving and communication — that are needed for many of these in-demand jobs, Harris says.
Health-care services is an industry where an aging population demands more workers, he adds.
The New York Labor Department encourages job seekers to visit the Jobs Express website (www.jobs.ny.gov), a database of job openings sorted by occupation and region throughout the state. Businesses can also post job listings on the site.