A new report predicts Pennsylvania will need nearly 3,420 more nurse practitioners in 2032 than it had in 2022.
That need – an increase of 43% – makes nurse practitioner the fastest growing occupation in the state, according to the report from the state Center for Workforce Information and Analysis.
Data for Lancaster County and other statistical areas will be available later this year, the center said. A previous estimate in 2020 put the local growth in nurse practitioners at about 52% – or 150 more people – for 2030.
By contrast, demand for all jobs in the state is expected to grow by 2.5%, or 718,238, through a combination of growth, transfers and career exits. The state forecast shows career exits (a proxy for retirement) and transfers out of the field outpacing new jobs in all of the top fields.
And while there has been a recent emphasis on growth of jobs not needing college degrees, all of the top fastest growing occupations require at least a bachelor’s degree.
Nurse practitioner Linda Gort, left, gives a thumbs up after examining three year old Melanie Vasquez Soto at Union Community Care, 802 New Holland Avenue In Manheim Township Tuesday, June 22, 2021.
Local context
Zachary A. Kraehmer, owner of Express Pros, an employment agency in Manheim Township, says that it makes sense that health care professionals will be in demand in Lancaster County since health care is the second largest employment sector after manufacturing.
Locally, he said he expects professional office positions to grow because the positions are found across sectors. The health care sector added 3,100 jobs over the last five years, Kraehmer noted from an internal report. Over the next three years the health care and social assistance sector is expected to add about 1,160 jobs.
Last year, nurse practitioners did not make the high priority jobs for Lancaster County in a state report. Those fast-growing, family sustaining jobs were medical and health services managers, software developers, quality assurance analysts and testers, Passenger vehicle drivers, coaches and scouts and emergency medical technicians and paramedics, according to the state.
The rest of the top five
Rounding out the top five jobs predicted to grow the most statewide are: data scientists, wind turbine technicians, statisticians and physician assistants.
The state will need about 1,250 more data scientists by 2032, an increase of 33%. That job needs a bachelor’s degree.
Pennsylvania will need 790 more master-degree-holding statisticians, an increase of 31%.
Physicians assistant jobs also require a master’s degree and will see a 28% increase in demand or 2,050 positions.
Interestingly, the small group classified as wind turbine technicians (160) is expected to grow by 50, or 31%, which lands it in the top five fast growing occupations even though there are few people in it.
There are even turbine technician jobs being advertised in Lancaster County for TRC, an engineering and consulting firm that is based in Connecticut.
Lancaster County-based TRC senior vice president of field operations Jason Hostetter said the jobs are unique and can be hard to fill because they require an engineering degree and also a desire and ability to work outdoors. They often call for travel because the wind turbines are all over. Technicians set up, maintain and fix the intricate machines that increasingly rely on computers and logic components. Growth in wind turbine technicians is indicative of the surging renewable energy sector, he said.
Demand for these jobs predicted to decline
Demand for 31% of the 866 occupations listed in the state report, or 271 different jobs, is predicted to stay the same or fall.
The greatest decline in demand, 38%, is forecast for word processors and typists, with a loss of 1,920 jobs statewide. These jobs headed for obsolescence all don’t need post-high school education or training except what can be learned on the job. Rounding out the bottom five are: data entry keyers, communication equipment operators, switchboard operators and hand cutters and trimmers.
Demand for data keyers is expected to fall by 25%, from 7,640 jobs in 2022 to 5,710 in 2032. Communication equipment operators will also fall by about 25% from 1,990 in 2022 to 1,490 in 2032. Switchboard operators will fall by 25% from 1,750 in 2022 to 1,320 in 2032.
The state will need just 170 cutters and trimmers by hand in 2032, a 23% decline from 220 in 2022. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, cutters and trimmers use hand tools or hand-held power tools to cut and trim a variety of manufactured items, such as carpet, fabric, stone, glass or rubber. They work in the furniture, apparel, plastics and rubber industries.
