Key Career & Employment Stats for Journalists Use
by Don Sjoerdsma | Career Advice Expert

This page contains facts and statistics for journalists who report on employment and the workplace. We've provided insights on the careers and employment space, including info on job seekers, hiring managers and employers.
Blue-Collar Jobs
The number of days it takes to fill an open position for skilled production work (e.g., welding, machining) rose from 70 to 93 days between 2015 and 2018. (Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute)
The trucking industry predicts that the economy will be short 175,000 workers by 2026. (American Trucking Associations)
The great majority of blue-collar workers (86 percent) are satisfied with their jobs. (The Harris Poll)
In the past three years, white-collar workers have seen their wages grow by nearly 7.5 percent while other workers, most of them without college degrees, saw their pay increase by 10 percent. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
About half of Apple''s hires in 2018 did not have a four-year college degree, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. (Business Insider)
Here are the top 20 occupations that don't require a four-year college degree:
- Mechanical designer
- Electrical technician
- Chef
- Manufacturing technician
- Telecommunications technician
- Computer network technician
- Information technology technician
- Food and beverage specialist
- Technical support specialist
- Driver
- Public safety officer
- Cashier
- Customer service representative
- Network operations analyst
- Insurance agent
- Cosmetologist
- Information technology coordinator
- Marketing representative
- Healthcare assistant
- Retail consultant
(LinkedIn)
The number of degree-holders in the labor force grew from one-quarter to two-fifths of the labor force in less than 25 years. (Deloitte)
Over the decades, the participation rate of prime-age workers, especially men 25 to 54 years old, has fallen steadily, from 98 percent in 1954 to 88 percent today. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
1954
Today
Here are the top-three job sectors with the highest risk of workers being replaced by AI:
Production
Food service
Transportation
Here are the highest-paying blue-collar jobs:
- Nuclear power reactor operator ($94,350 median annual salary)
- First-line supervisor of police and detectives ($89,030)
- Power distributor and dispatcher ($86,410)
- Detectives and criminal investigator ($81,920)
- Powerhouse, substation, and relay electrical and electronics repairer ($80,200)
- Elevator installers and repairer ($79,780)
- Power plant operator ($79,610)
- First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention worker ($76,330)
- Transit and railroad police ($74,030)
- Gas plant operator ($71,070)
Job Interviews
Only 2 percent of applicants will be called for an interview for the average job opening. (Glassdoor)
The average job interview is 40-minutes long. (Gallup)
The interview process takes an average of 22.9 days. (Glassdoor)
About one-third of bosses (33 percent) know within the first 90 seconds of the interview whether they're going to hire someone. (Come Recommended and Classes & Careers)
Share of university graduates who are confident their job interview skills will get them a job they want in the United States in 2019:
(iCIMS)
People who use mental imagery of feeling confident and in control before a job interview had a higher performance and lower stress than those who don't. (Journal of Managerial Psychology)
Chronic self-promoters perform better in job interviews than others. (Journal of Applied Social Psychology)
Ninety-one percent of people who take an interview-training program felt it helped them do better in their real interviews. (Personnel Psychology)
You'll likely be seen as smart if you make a lot of eye contact while talking. (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin)
Here are 10 interview mistakes that could instantly destroy your chances:
Retirement
While 10,000 baby boomers retire every day, only 5,900 leave the workforce. (Population Reference Bureau)
In 2016, 45 percent of workers ages 55 and older are expected to retire after age 65, up from 15 percent of such workers in the 1996 survey. (Population Reference Bureau)
Fifty-three percent of workers ages 60+ say they are postponing retirement, with 57 percent of men putting it off compared to 48 percent of women. (CareerBuilder)
Four in 10 workers (40 percent) doubt they'll be able to retire until 70 or older. (CareerBuilder)
The number of age-related discrimination charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by workers aged 65+ doubled from 1990 to 2017. A total of 18,376 cases were filed in 2017. (EEOC)
Data shows more than half of older U.S. workers are pushed out of longtime jobs before retirement — suffering irreversible financial damage. (ProPublica and the Urban Institute)
Forty-seven percent of working seniors say they wish they were retired. Thirty-three percent say they're happy to be working, while 20 percent say they like it but would prefer fewer hours. (Provision Living)
Here are the primary financial reasons seniors continue working:
About one-in-four workers (23 percent) say they don't participate in a 401(k), IRA or other retirement plan. (CareerBuilder)
Here are some of the occupations in which workers age 55+ make up a large percentage of the workforce:
Here are the five most common jobs for men 62 and older who didn't attend college:
Delivery workers and truck drivers
6.09%
Janitors and building cleaners
6.02%
Farmers and ranchers
4.43%
Grounds maintenance workers
3.60%
Construction laborers
2.77%
Here are the five most common jobs for women 62 and older who didn't attend college:
Secretaries and administrative assistants
6.35%
Maids and housekeepers
5.57%
Personal care aides
5.18%
Childcare workers
5.17%
Nursing, psychiatric and home health aides
4.32%
Here are the jobs that workers 62 and older find most enjoyable:
Here are the jobs workers 62 and older find least enjoyable:
Millennials Reentering the Workforce
84 percent of millennials foresee taking significant breaks during their career. (Manpower Group)
Here's why millennial women say they'll need to take a break:
Here's why millennial men will temporarily exit the workforce:
Here's the percentage of companies that accept the following types of breaks:
Phasing into retirement by working reduced hours (54 percent of employers allow some employees to do so)
Sabbaticals and return to a comparable job (28%)
Extended career breaks for caregiving or other personal or family responsibilities (52%)
Special consideration when returning to the organization after an extended career break (20%)
(SHRM)
Here are the fastest-growing occupations in the United States and what they pay:
Solar photovoltaic installers
Median annual wage:$42,680
(63.3% increase)Wind turbine service technicians
Median annual wage:$54,370
(56.9% increase)Home health aides
Median annual wage:$24,200
(36.6% increase)Personal care aides
Median annual wage:$24,020
(36.4% increase)Occupational therapy assistants
Median annual wage:$60,220
(33.1% increase)Information security analysts
Median annual wage:$98,350
(31.6% increase)Physician assistants
Median annual wage:$108,610
(31.1% increase)Statisticians
Median annual wage:$87,780
(30.7% increase)Nurse practitioners
Median annual wage:$107,030
(28.2% increase)Speech-language pathologists
Median annual wage:$77,510
(27.3% increase)Physical therapist assistants
Median annual wage:$58,040
(27.1% increase)Genetic counselors
Median annual wage:$80,370
(27.0% increase)Mathematicians
Median annual wage:$101,900
(26.0% increase)Operations research analysts
Median annual wage:$83,390
(25.6% increase)App developers
Median annual wage:$103,620
(25.6% increase)Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists
Median annual wage:$39,600
(24.1% increase)Health specialties teachers in postsecondary school
Median annual wage:$97,370
(23.2% increase)Phlebotomists
Median annual wage:$34,480
(23.0% increase)Physical therapist aides
Median annual wage:$26,240
(22.8% increase)Medical assistants
Median annual wage:$33,610
(22.6% increase)Substance abuse, behavioral disorder and mental health counselors
Median annual wage:$44,630
(22.5% increase)Marriage and family therapists
Median annual wage:$50,090
(22.3% increase)Massage therapists
Median annual wage:$41,420
(22.2% increase)Restaurant cooks
Median annual wage:$26,530
(21.9% increase)Physical therapists
Median annual wage:$87,930
(21.9% increase)Respiratory therapists
Median annual wage:$60,280
(20.8% increase)Market research analysts and marketing specialists
Median annual wage:$63,120
(20.4% increase)Actuaries
Median annual wage:$102,880
(20.1% increase)Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic
Median annual wage:$53,190
(20.0% increase)Nursing instructors and teachers in postsecondary school
Median annual wage: