Employment Outlook
The number of job openings in a particular occupation will depend on:
For the 2005 to 2010 forecast:
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The employment outlook in an occupation may vary from one location to another in Alberta. For example, the employment outlook may be different in a rural or urban community, or in a prairie or forested region of the province. It is a good idea to discuss your career plans with people who are knowledgeable about the occupations that interest you and the local employment outlook for those occupations.
Employment turnover refers to job vacancies created by people leaving existing positions. For example, people may quit because they have found other jobs, been promoted or decided to retire.
A significant number of job openings are created by employment turnover. In some occupations, more job openings are created by employment turnover than by occupational growth.
Occupational growth refers to the creation of new positions that never existed before. The occupational growth rate is the rate at which the number of people employed in an occupation is expected to grow each year. For example, if there are 1,000 people currently employed in an occupation that is growing at an average rate (1.5 to 2.5 per cent), there probably will be 15 to 25 new jobs created each year.
The occupational growth rates in Alberta occupational profiles are based on the Alberta Modified COPS Outlook for the period from 2005 to 2010 in Alberta (COPS stands for Canadian Occupational Projection System). Growth rates are averages of expected annual growth rates and therefore do not reflect changes from year to year over the forecast period.
Projections are based on federal government data about occupational groups defined at the four digit level in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system. When an occupation described in an occupational profile is one of several occupations in an occupational group, it is important to consider how demand for other types of work in the group may influence a projection.
High employment turnover or occupational growth does not necessarily mean that there will be many job openings in an occupation. Likewise, average or below average employment turnover or occupational growth does not necessarily mean that there will be only a few job openings in an occupation. It depends on the size of the occupation.
Examples:
|
Number of People employed in the occupation |
Occupational growth rate | Number of new positions created each year |
| 100 x | over 2.5 per cent (above average) | = more than 2 |
| 1,000 x | 1.5 to 2.5 per cent (average) | = 15 to 25 |
| 10,000 x | less than 1.5 per cent (below average) | = fewer than 150 |