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New and emerging occupations: something old, something new, something better … perhaps something for you. Here's how new occupations develop

Occupational Outlook Quarterly - September 22, 2002

What's the next hot career field? Are fuel cell technicians and chief privacy officers here to stay? Which unusual jobs are ready for a growth spurt?

People ask questions like these hoping to learn about an entirely new occupation or some small, overlooked career that is poised for a breakthrough. And it's no wonder they ask.

In the not too distant past, many of the jobs we now take for granted didn't exist. But as technology developed, so did the need for workers who could build and use it--and sometimes, the tasks those workers performed were so different that they became part of new occupations.

Technology is only one cause of new occupations. Demographic trends--such as increased immigration, aging, and higher levels of education--also cause new types of jobs to emerge, as do business trends and shifts in consumer needs and tastes.

Workers who join an occupation at its start often are rewarded with exciting work, high earnings, and the chance to shape a profession.

But recognizing the difference between a passing fad and a stable career can be tricky, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) makes no projections in that regard. Read on to learn how new and emerging occupations develop, why they are hard to identify, what risks and rewards vanguard workers face, and how to find a cutting-edge job. A box starting on page 19 describes some of the strategies researchers use to uncover new and emerging careers, along with some of their results. Scattered throughout are descriptions of fledgling occupations and specialties.

Seeds of change: How occupations emerge

New occupations develop when employers need workers to do tasks that have never been done before--managing Web sites in the early 1990s, for example. Usually, workers in existing occupations add these new tasks to their jobs, sometimes creating a specialty. But if the needed task is sufficiently different and becomes the primary job of enough workers, the specialty grows to be an occupation in its own right.

Computer security is one emerging specialty. In most companies, the same workers who set up and administer computer networks also keep them secure. But as security tasks become more numerous and complex, computer workers have begun to specialize, even earning specific credentials and degrees.

Similarly, when scientists began decoding the human genome in 1990, they collected staggering amounts of biochemical data. To organize these data, employers turned to computer experts or to biologists who had some computer knowledge. But as demand increased, the field of bioinformatics grew from a small sideline to an established career. Bioinformatics specialist is now a common job title, and several schools offer specific training for these jobs.

Some of the factors that cause new specialties and occupations to emerge include changing technology, laws, demographics, and business practices. The more dramatic the changes, the more likely they are to cause occupational change.

When videoconferencing became widespread, for example, a few organizations needed workers who could set up, troubleshoot, and track the new technology full time. The resulting occupation was called videoconferencing technician.

Some other technological changes driving new specialties and occupations include:

* Improved computer graphics that have brought forth new multimedia and animation specialties;

* Increasingly sophisticated manufacturing automation and robotics that have led to new types of silicon and biological chipmaking technicians;

* New medical imaging techniques that have given rise to radiological specialties such as dosimeters, who measure bone density; and

* Improvements in data management and networking capabilities that have led to geographic information systems (GIS) technicians and programmers, who manage data from global positioning satellites; data security engineers and analysts, who develop policies and computer programs to keep data confidential; and usability specialists, who make Web sites, software, and databases easier to navigate.

Occupations and specialties also emerge because of changes in the law. Welfare-to-work legislation, for example, prompted the need for new types of job coaches and human services workers. Telecommunications laws that require closed captioning of television programs have spurred growth of closed captioners, or stenocaptioners--workers who type captions for television programs. And changes in criminal laws have led to occupations such as restitution specialists and victim's, witness, and children's advocates.

Likewise, changes in Medicaid regulations created a demand for new types of record keepers and record makers--including assessment specialists, who test the mental and physical functioning of residents in assisted-living institutions and report their findings to government agencies.

Demographic shifts and social developments are another source of new occupations and specialties. To serve an aging population, organizations began employing workers with expertise in geriatrics, including geriatric nurses, human services workers, and social workers. An increase in the demand for plastic surgery has resulted in the need for medical aestheticians, who combine skin-care proficiency with medical knowledge to care for patients' skin after surgery.

And increases in the number of two-income households have spurred new service occupations, such as personal chef and corporate concierge. (To learn more about the latter occupation, see "You're a what? Corporate concierge" in the Spring 2002 OOQ, available online at www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2002/spring/ yawhat.htm.)

New occupations and specialties also result from changes in business practices. The increase in the use of health management organizations, for example, drove demand for utilization review coordinators and restorative therapy coordinators, both of whom examine patient records to ensure that treatment was in line with an organization's standards. Also, as more people send personal information over the Internet, a few companies are hiring privacy officers to set and enforce policies about customer and employee confidentiality.

Most new types of work result from a combination of factors. Distance learning occupations fall into this category. Improved computer networking, social trends toward lifelong education, and competition between learning institutions combined to give rise to distance learning and its occupations. These occupations include information architects, who make sure that course organization is conducive to learning and that the Web site is simple to navigate, and course editors, who modify traditional classes for the Internet; editors reformat course content by organizing it into understandable pieces and adding multimedia and other data sources.

Fuzzy measurements: Smudges on the crystal ball

Possible causes for new occupations are easy to identify. But predicting and measuring new occupations is more difficult. For starters, it is hard to determine if technological, demographic, or other changes will lead to new occupations. Recently, experts have touted new discoveries that allow materials to be constructed one atom at a time. Some say this "nano-manufacturing" could revolutionize how products are developed. But whether this will lead to a new type of production or occupation is unknown. Even if this technology becomes widely used--which, as is the case for nearly any innovation, is uncertain--it might not create new types of work. It might simply add a few new tasks to old occupations.

In many instances, a successful technological breakthrough does not affect the working world. For example, one of the latest medical imaging techniques, the virtual colonoscopy, may have a dramatically positive effect for patients--but its adoption in the marketplace will not add to the number of occupations. The procedure is almost identical to a CAT scan, so the radiologists who perform it need little additional training.

And earlier this decade, wireless technicians were predicted to evolve into a distinct occupation of workers who would install wireless base towers and repair wireless equipment. But wireless tower installation is similar to the installation of other types of communication towers, such as those used for satellite and cable television. This example illustrates that although the title of an occupation may change, the basic tasks often remain much the same.

New, emerging, or evolving? Rather than trying to predict whether changes in technology and other factors will create new occupations, most labor market researchers attempt to identify occupations that already exist and are only relatively new. Even this is difficult, however, in part because of unclear definitions.

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