Volume 2, Issue 2 University of Houston
By Brandon Moeller
Staff Writer
UH students who take advantage of the career center and other services offered by the College of Business Administration should be able to keep up with favorable employment projections for the next 10 years.
The 1998-2008 projections, released recently by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicate a 14 percent increase in total employment. This growth rate is smaller than the 1988-98 10-year period, when growth was 17 percent.
Almost all job growth will come from service-producing industries, while only the construction field will add jobs in the goods-producing sector. A decrease of 89,000 manufacturing jobs is expected in the period.
The CBA places 55 percent of its undergraduate business majors in the services sector and 45 percent in the manufacturing sector.
College of Business Administration graduate Cynthia Jackson gets help with her gown from her husband, Bryan, before Friday's CBA December graduation ceremony.
Pin Lim/Breaking News
Rachel Seff, director of the college's Elizabeth D. Rockwell Career Services Center, said the center is working to accomplish the challenges of the Labor Department's projections.
"We are proactive in meeting the technological advancements and the different ways students are looking for jobs," Seff said.
Professional specialty occupations are expected to increase and add the most jobs to the market. Other employment groups that are projected to grow significantly are executive, administrative and managerial positions; technicians and related support occupations; and marketing and sales staffs.
Thirty-one percent of graduating UH business majors accepted accounting positions this year, 27 percent accepted management information systems positions and 14 percent took jobs in sales and marketing.
The Bureau also released projections that show a 40 percent increase in the Asian labor force, the largest increase of all ethnic groups. The Hispanic labor force follows with a 37 percent projected increase, and the African-American labor force is expected to grow by 20 percent -- twice as much as the white labor force.
By 2008, the Hispanic labor force is expected to be larger than the black labor force.
The CBA's undergraduate enrollment is currently 43 percent Caucasian, 23 percent Asian, 17 percent Hispanic/Latino and 10 percent African-American.
That diverse student body could lead to more job opportunities as employers
seek talented, ethnically diverse students.
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