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News Release

Last modified: Friday, January 11, 2008

Report: Nursing will be the 'hot job' in Indiana for years to come

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 14, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- They used to ask whether there was a doctor in the house.

Today, nurses are in great demand in Indiana. According to a new report from the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, registered nursing is the hottest job throughout the state.

"Across the state, this occupation is expected to grow nearly 30 percent by 2014 (from 2004 levels). This means the addition of 15,400 workers in a field where the statewide median wage was $51,796 in 2006," wrote Rachel Justis, an analyst at the IBRC.

Her article appears in the new edition of INContext, a publication the IBRC produces in partnership with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (IDWD).

Justis bases her findings on IDWD data that focus on jobs with a large number of openings, fast growth and good pay.

Among those jobs, the demand for registered nurses ranks first in seven of Indiana's 11 regions and second in the others. Projections from 2004 to 2011 indicate that the growth in nurses in much of Indiana, particularly the southern half of the state, will approach or exceed 30 percent.

West central Indiana, which includes Terre Haute and Vincennes, will post the smallest increase -- "a still healthy 23 percent growth," Justis observed.

"Aside from registered nurse, the only other job to rank first in any of the groups was post-secondary teacher, which topped the list in four regions that have a state university as a major employer," she said.

Other hot jobs in Indiana are accountants, auditors, elementary school teachers, and medical and health services managers. All are in demand in each region of the state.

Looking more closely at the regions:

• Network systems, data communications analysts and dental hygienists will be in demand in northeast Indiana.
• Truck drivers and loan officers will be in demand in southeast Indiana, serving the growth in New Albany, Jeffersonville and other nearby fast growing communities.
• Maintenance and general repair workers will continue to be in demand in west central and south central Indiana.
• Team assemblers, like those who will work at the new Honda factory in Greensburg, will be a hot job in that region.

Areas with smaller populations had fewer hot jobs, but 117 different jobs were listed in at least one region, "signifying the differing industry strengths in each of Indiana's regions," she said.

The complete "Hoosier Hot Jobs" listing for each of Indiana's economic growth regions can be accessed on the Hoosiers by the Numbers Web site at https://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/docs/hh50/hh50regions.pdf.

Also in the latest issue of INContext are articles on the value of lifelong learning and career advancement, the Evansville economy, and gross domestic product by metropolitan area. It is available online at https://www.incontext.indiana.edu/.

Established in 1925, the IBRC is an information outreach service of the Kelley School. It provides and interprets economic, demographic and social information needed by business, government, educational and other nonprofit organizations, and individual data users in the state and throughout the nation. Its research can be found online at https://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/.

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