As companies keep downsizing, economists say many future jobs will require extra education.

When the economy rebounds, whether in one year or five, experts say the labor market will call for certain skill sets that future workers should start developing now.

Even as manufacturing jobs wane in the state, employers are demanding more engineers, accountants and information technology pr ofessionals, among other occupations, experts say. Most fast-growing professions require math and science skills, if not a bachelor's degree.

For example, health care jobs are expected to increase by 19.8 percent, or 4 million, between 2006 and 2016, twice as fast as the average for all other occupations, according to a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An upturn in the use of assistants and technicians to perform tasks normally assumed by doctors and nurses means that many of these new health care jobs will not require a four-year degree.

“More jobs will require more education in the future," said Arlene Dohm of the Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections, "but there will still be jobs for people without a college degree."

Positions for physicians and surgeons are expected to increase by 14 percent, compared to 23 percent for nurses and 27 percent for physician assistants. Baby boomers will be the primary beneficiaries of medical care, with the population 55 years and older expected to rise at an annual rate of 2.7 percent to reach 87 million by 2016, the report said. Changing demographics, coupled with advances in medicine and gene mapping, will add jobs across the spectrum, from heart surgeons to home care aides.

However, most economists say that advanced degrees and specialization will be key to career growth.

"Today more and more people have to go to college if they expect to earn a wage like their parents did in a factory," said Richard Hill, an economics professor at Central Michigan University .

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Source: Detroit News, 7.21.08