Georgia area workforce trends: WIA area #18 - South GA, projections to 2012

Fastest Growing Occupations

Medical Assistants Hairdressers, Hairstylists, &
Cosm etologists Personal & Hom e Care Aides
Registered Nurses
Receptionists & Inform ation Clerks
Carpenters
Child Care W orkers Com b. Food Prep & Serving W rkrs.,
Incl. Fast Food W aiters & W aitresses
Food Preparation W orkers Supervisors of Const. Trades &
Extraction W orkers Secondary School Teachers, Exc.
Special & Voc. Ed. Supervisors of Food Preparation &
Serving W orkers Cooks, Restaurant
Construction Laborers

6.5% 5.7% 4.4% 4.1% 3.9% 3.9% 3.7% 3.6% 3.3% 3.3% 3.3% 3.1% 3.0% 3.0% 2.8%

These fast-growing occupations will have better employment prospects than occupations with slow or declining employment. Also, conditions will be more favorable for mobility and advancement.
Three of the fastest growing occupations are associated with the healthcare industry.
Two offer apprenticeships as the usual route to job entry.
Twelve of these jobs do not require any formal education beyond high school.

Occupations with the Most Annual Openings

Cashiers Retail Salespersons Waiters and Waitresses
Registered Nurses Comb. Food Prep & Serving Wrkrs., Incl. Fast Food Laborers & Freight, Stock, & Material Movers, Hand
Elem. School Teachers, Exc. Special Ed. Child Care Workers
General & Operations Managers Farmw orkers & Laborers, Crop, Nursery, &
Greenhouse Nursing Aides, Orderlies, & Attendants
Stock Clerks & Order Fillers Office Clerks, General
Secondary School Teachers, Exc. Special & Voc. Ed. Food Preparation Workers
Janitors & Cleaners, Exc. Maids & Hsekeep. Cleaners Receptionists & Information Clerks

90 80 80 70 70 60 60 60 50 50 50 50

140 130 130

200 190

Most of the annual openings in this list will result from the need to replace workers who change jobs rather than from new job creation.
Two of these jobs are directly related to the healthcare industry, a key industry in this area.
Thirteen require short-term on-the-job training of one month or less.
Although these occupations have many projected annual openings, more than half of them pay less than average wages.

Georgia Area
Workforce Trends
Projections to 2012
WIA Area #18 South GA
This area encompasses the ten counties of central South Georgia near the Florida border in and around the cities of Tifton and Valdosta. It includes the following counties: Ben Hill, *Berrien, Brooks, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Tift, and Turner.
* Note: Berrien County has moved from Workforce Investment Area #18 to Workforce Investment Area #19. That change is not reflected in these data, but will be in subsequent publications.
Workforce Information & Analysis Division Georgia Department of Labor Michael L. Thurmond Commissioner

Total Industry Growth

Total employment in WIA Area #18 is expected to grow from almost 100,000 jobs in 2002 to more than 121,000 by the year 2012, which equates to almost 2,200 new jobs added each year. This area is the home of a regional medical center and a regional university. Thanks to its agricultural experiment station at Tifton, it is also home to one of the largest concentrations of Ph.D.'s per capita in the United States. Key industries include health services, educational services, agricultural production, textiles, and transportation equipment manufacturing, paper manufacturing, and plastic products manufacturing.
The top ten industries in this area with the most job growth are listed below.

Educational Services Food Services & Drinking Places Ambulatory Health Care Services
Hospitals General Merchandise Stores
Social Assistance Warehousing & Storage Construction of Buildings Administrative & Support Services Plastics & Rubber Products
Manuf ac turing

3,650 2,610 2,420 1,920 1,390 1,160 1,110 870 830 770

Industry Rate of Growth

The area's economy is expected to outpace Georgia's economy over the projection period. Area job growth is expected to be 2.0 percent per year, while Georgia's job growth is expected to be 1.6 percent per year.
The ten fastest growing industries in this area are listed below.

Social Assistance
Personal & Laundry Services Amusement, Gambling, & Recreation
Industries Construction of Buildings
Warehousing & Storage
Ambulatory Health Care Services Plastics & Rubber Products Manuf ac turing
General Merchandise Stores Elect. Equipmt., Appliance, & Component
Manuf ac turing Hospitals

7.1% 6.8% 6.3% 6.1% 5.4% 5.3% 4.5% 4.3% 4.3% 3.4%

For copies of the Georgia Career Planner, Georgia Workforce Trends in Brief or this publication,
call 404/232-3875 or contact your local Department of Labor office.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Program Auxiliary Aids and Services Available upon Request to Individuals with Disabilities

Occupations with the Most Job Growth

Registered Nurses
Retail Salespersons Comb. Food Prep & Serving Wrkrs.,
Incl. Fast Food Waiters & Waitresses
Cashiers Elem. School Teachers, Exc. Special
Ed. Child Care Workers
Nursing Aides, Orderlies, & Attendants
General & Operations Managers
Receptionists & Information Clerks
Medical Assistants Janitors & Cleaners, Exc. Maids &
Hsekeep. Cleaners Customer Service Representatives
Food Preparation Workers Laborers & Freight, Stock, & Material
Movers, Hand

920 750 620 590 490 470 460 420 400 350 290 280 280 270 270

These 15 occupations out of more than 700 - are projected to add almost 6,900 jobs over the next 10 years, more than 30 percent of all projected job growth in this area.
Ten occupations require short-term on-the-job training of one month or less and three require a college degree.
Twelve of these occupations do not require any formal education beyond high school.