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McLean, Va. (July 14, 2008) - Experienced sales representatives, software developers and nurses are the professionals best able to weather continued job erosion in the weakened U.S. economy, according to a new special report from Jobfox, the Internet's leading site for expertly matching job candidates with compatible job openings at more than 1,700 companies.

Posted 7/15/2008
The longitudinal special report, the Jobfox Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Professions, identifies professions that have most consistently remained in highest demand over a more than eight-month period dating from November 2007 through July 7, 2008.

"During this critical period of economic slowdown, these are the professionals who have been least affected by six consecutive months of job losses in the United States," said Rob McGovern, the CEO of Jobfox. "Difficult times, unfortunately, are already here for many low-skilled workers. However, Jobfox continues to see aggressive hiring activity for many critical positions."

The top five most recession-proof professions, identified by Jobfox (www.jobfox.com) in the report, are:

  1. Sales Representative/Business Development.
  2. Software Design/Development.
  3. Nursing.
  4. Accounting & Finance Executive.
  5. Accounting Staff.

Computer and Mathematical Science Occupations Expected to Grow Quickest Over the Next Decade Computing Research Association (12/05/07) Harsha, Peter

Posted 12/10/2007
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections indicate that despite concerns over the impact of globalization, computing-related occupations are expected to grow the most among all "professional and related occupations" during the 2006-2016 period. The BLS predicts that computer and mathematical science occupations will grow by about 24 percent over the next decade, which would add 822,000 new jobs. Although the growth rate for computer and mathematical science occupations has slowed compared to the previous decade, largely due to the outsourcing of "routine work" as the industry matures, strong growth in other aspects of computing will continue to create opportunities in the field. The report projects that among the six fastest-growing occupations with the largest numerical growth, three will be computer-related, including computer software engineers, computer systems analysts, and network systems and data communication analysts. "The demand for computer-related occupations will increase in almost all industries as organizations continue to adopt and integrate increasingly sophisticated and complex technologies," the labor projections report says.
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U.S. Tech Employment Hits Its Highest Point in Seven Years
InformationWeek (07/18/07) Murphy, Chris

Posted 7/25/2007
The IT industry added some 93,000 computer-related jobs over the past year to lower its unemployment rate by 2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest household employment survey. The industry has an available workforce that numbers 3.65 million people who are working or unemployed, but only 3.58 million have jobs. During the recession of 2003 and 2004, the IT industry faced an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent. But total IT employment is now at its highest level since the BLS started surveying employment by eight computer-related job categories in 2000. Employers added more software engineers, IT managers, and network systems analysts than other IT positions over the past year. However, programming employment fell 3 percent, but with more than a half million workers, programming remains the third largest job category at 15 percent of all jobs, while there was a 4 percent decline in the number of support specialists, who now account for 9 percent of the workforce. Software engineers represent 25 percent of the workforce, and computer scientists and system analysts account for 21 percent.

The Myth of High-Tech Outsourcing
Business Week (04/24/07)

Posted 4/26/2007
A new report from the American Electronics Association that shows the U.S. technology industry added almost 150,000 jobs in 2006, the largest gain since 2001, counters arguments that outsourcing is stealing the majority of high-tech jobs in the United States and supports requests for higher caps on workers visas. ... Meanwhile, unemployment for engineers, computer programmers, software developers, and other IT professionals is at its lowest rate in years, with less than 3 percent of computer system designers and less than 2 percent of engineers out of work, according to the AeA study. "There would have been a lot more than 147,000 jobs created here, but our companies are having difficulty finding Americans with the background," said AeA President William Archey.

Award in Lego Contest Goes to CS Graduate Students

Posted 4/4/2007
A team of JMU Computer Science graduate students took 1st place in the Lego home-building contest at JMU sponsored by Freddie Mac, Inc.
Twenty-Five teams from across campus competed for the top honors.

Photo:LEGO Photo:LEGO

SRI International, one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations based in California's Silicon Valley, has selected the Shenandoah Valley's Rockingham County as the site for its new Center for Advanced Drug Research, or CADRE.

Posted 1/22/2007
The new center, to be located in the Rockingham Center for Research and Technology north of Harrisonburg, will partner with James Madison University and other Virginia institutions in state-of-the-art pharmaceutical research. SRI plans to add other high-technology programs in such areas as biothreats and homeland security, engineering, nanotechnology, energy, information technology and education at the Rockingham County site. The project when completed will create more than 100 new jobs with an average annual compensation of $85,000.

Software Design and Development Ranks 4th in Starting Salary Survey

Posted 9/12/2006
Careerbuilder.com Article: They're Earning What? America's Highest Starting Salaries

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Posted 7/27/2006
Employment in the software publishing industry has more than doubled since 1990. As firms continue to invest heavily in information technology and demand for specialized software rises, software publishing is projected to be the third fastest growing industry in the U.S. economy over the next decade. Wage and salary employment is expected to increase by 68 percent between 2004 and 2014, almost five times the 14 percent growth projected for all industries combined. Even in difficult economic times, organizations continue to make investments in software.

MONEY Magazine Article

Posted 4/26/2006
MONEY Magazine and Salary.com researched hundreds of jobs, considering their growth, pay, stress-levels and other factors. Software Engineering ranked highest.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/