New report shows lots of future job opportunities in transportation

Employees in the transportation industry are aging, meaning more jobs in the sector will need to be filled soo.

According to a government report released this week, 4.6 million workers will need to be hired and trained in the industry due to growth, retirement and turnover through 2022.

The report—a combined project from the U.S. Department of Labor, Department of Education and Department of Transportation—details the employment “hot spots” in transportation by industry subsectors, occupations, career areas, and geographic areas.

Among the other key findings:

• Transportation is projected to add 417,000 net jobs from 2012 to 2022 due to industry growth.
   
• Between 2012 and 2022, the average employment growth rate of 11% across transportation subsectors is similar to that of the entire economy (10.8%) and of the infrastructure industry (11%), which includes transportation, logistics, water, energy, telecommunications, and public works.
   
• Net transportation job growth will occur in all but two states between 2012 and 2022. Kentucky and Vermont will experience a slight decline but only by 1%. The fastest growth will occur on the West Coast, the Gulf Coast, the upper Mid-Atlantic, several mountain states, and the Midwest.
   
• Much of the regional transportation job growth is driven by growth in the large metropolitan areas within those regions. The highest number of job openings in transportation, including all six subsectors, will likely be generated in New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago between 2012 and 2022.

The sector expected to see the most hires is trucking, with over 2 million jobs needed to be filled due to industry growth and separations.

Smaller sectors such as railroad and maritime are also expected to see a bump in jobs due to retirements.

The report also concluded that 13 out of the top 20 highest demand transportation jobs pay above the median wage, and many of these jobs include strong benefits due to unions in most transportation subsectors.

Search for transportation jobs on Monster.