The Future For Heavy Equipment Careers Outstrips Most Other Sectors

Heavy equipment careers are booming with government statistics suggesting that demand for operators will continue through to 2016. Back in 2006 (latest reliable statistics), there were 494,000 heavy equipment operators spread across the nation. The predicted trend was that this number would grow by about 8% by 2016 – that is around 40,000 new positions or around 4,000 new jobs each year. That doesn’t tell the whole story, however.

It is predicted that around 14% of operators (2006 statistics) will leave the job in that same period, many through retirement as the baby boomers era starts to decline. That represents around 70,000 operators leaving the industry – or 7,000 per year. The net total is a requirement of 12,000 new trained workers each year until 2016.

You know what they say about statistics and I agree to an extent. You will not see 12,000 new jobs each year. In fact the projection had been for a steady annual increase in the number of new recruits required. 2010 is when the baby boomers are expected to drop off the employment charts in bigger numbers. This has been offset somewhat this year by the strong demand for new recruits to service the construction programs associated with the economic recovery initiatives.

If you take all that and put it together – the bottom line is that demand for heavy equipment operators is NOT expected to drop at all. This means that anyone entering a heavy equipment career can expect stability of employment until at least 2016. That’s good news for everyone involved in the industry. However, what about today – right now – what is the demand?

A quick search on Google produced many lists of job vacancies. Indeed.com represented the average with almost 3,000 opportunities listed for heavy equipment operators. I suggest, if you are looking at a heavy equipment career, you get started. There has never been a better time like the present – take advantage of it while you can. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can quickly get you started in a rewarding career as a heavy equipment operator.