Maine’s labor market is expected to undergo a gradual but significant realignment over the next decade.
That’s according to a new report from the state Department of Labor projecting job change across various professions.
The department’s Mark McInerney said many of the professions likely to see the most growth in new job openings are in the health care sector.
“We expect that there is going to be somewhat of a shifting of the Occupational Employment in Maine towards health care and personal support occupations in particular to meet the needs of a population that is aging,” he said.
On the other hand, McInerney said there will likely be less demand for office and administrative support jobs, sectors in which “technology, automation and mechanization are able to perform some routine functions in the workforce that used to be somewhat more labor intensive,” he said.
The report predicts that the overall number of nonfarm jobs in Maine will decline slightly in the next few years, but McInerney said increased output is likely to keep the state’s economy growing.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.