Are These The Jobs of The Future?

Some careers advisers have a distinct penchant for digging out obscure pieces of careers information and labour market trends.  However, I doubt if many will have perused the full 260 odd pages of the "Skill Shortage Sensible" report produced by the Migration Advisory Committee of the Home Office.  It does however contain a handy (if still considerable) list of the occupations the Committee recommend for retention in the shortage occupation list for the UK and Scotland.

In other words, it is a good guide to job areas in which UK citizens as well as immigrants to the country may themselves find opportunities in the future and may repay some further study.  Of course some of the
jobs are very high level occupations that would not be immediately within the grasp of the average graduate - but we would hope that least some of those who have sought careers advice at the University of Cumbria will harbour longer-term ambitions.

It might come as little surprise that many of the items on the list contain the word engineering at some point and some of the key disciplines that get several mentions are:

• nuclear decommissioning and waste management (so good news here for the sons and daughters of West Cumbria)
• electricity distribution and transmission
• tunnelling and landfill
• 'all chemical engineers'
• aerospace manufacture
• oil and gas

The continuing need for oil and gas extraction also accounts for a further sub-family of anticipated shortage applications incuding geologists, hydrogeologists, geochemists, geophysicists and pipe welders as well as a wide number of engineering technical specialisms.

If you've spotted that you can't study many of these areas at the University of Cumbria, there is better news coming.  The shortage recommendation list includes a number of occupations relating to 2D/3D computer animation for film, televison and video games, including artists, modellers and production specialists as well as dancers and musicians.  

Health occupations are also well represented, notably:

• hospital doctors in haeomotology, emergency medicine, paediatrics, old age psychiatry, anaesthetics, intensive care, internal medicine and accident and emergency
• diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers
• operating theatre nurses
• social workers in children's and family services (interestingly in the light of current vacancy shortages locally)
• nuclear medicine and radiotherapy phycisists

Lastly, secondary teachers of biology, chemistry and physics as well as chefs also receive a mention.

Currently the shortage occupation list is reviewed every two years - the so-called sunset clause.