Five Professions Face Worker Shortages

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Monthly Labor Review, five career paths in particular will face worker shortages over the coming years:

• Registered nurses
• Librarians
• Machinists
• Truck drivers
• Pharmacists

Reasons for shortages are a combination of increased demand, fewer young people entering the professions, unattractive wages and working conditions, and anticipated mass retirements. In response, employers in these professions are working to raise salaries and create additional incentives to attract new hires and retain current employees.

UPDATE: A survey by the staffing firm Manpower shows that 40% of over 30,000 employers worldwide are having trouble finding qualified job candidates. Sales representatives, engineers, technicians and accountants lead the list of in-demand professions where openings are hard to fill. Manpower predicts that within 10 years, such labor shortages will cause many businesses to fail. Says Manpower CEO Jeffrey Joerres, "This is not a cyclical trend, as we have seen in the past, this time the talent crunch is for real, and it's going to last for decades."

Source: CNN.com