A HubPages Digital Directory for Employment, Education and Travel in Oregon

Oregon in the Pacific Northwest is in a place known for its historic contrubitions to First Nations and European pioneering lives. The land and lakes have been a crossroads of a sort an done that attracted Lewis and Clark, finally, to the Pacific Ocean with the help of Sacagawea.

Oregon is a land of majestic ancient and new forest growth as well as the Lumber Industry. Wildlife is abundant, from the salmon that spawn in its streams the the bears that catch them as they swim past them. Nature and a new emphasis on 21st Century sustainability has driven new industries to the Pacific Northwest, with the first being hydroelectricity beginning back in 1882. Joseph/Silver Lake, Oregon is home to the Chief Joseph Dam, which is the second major hydroleclectric producer in the USA. Portland OR enjoyed hydroelectricity as early as September 1882.

Logging was another major activity in the early white settlements as they developed industries. Today, major hiring industries include Healthcare, IT, and Tourist/Travel services such as food service. These are all expected to continue to exapand in the 21st Century.

The job titles expected to experience the greatest growth in numbers for the state, among 160,000+ new jobs, include the following:

1. Registered Nurses (RNs) - Also the fastest growth, by percentage, at 29+%. This will likely include growing numbers of Nurse Practioners (NPs). Healthcare is the industry projected to grow the fastest in Oregon, much faster than any other set of occupations. Travel Nursing with its extra benefits and perks will become increasingly important as job demand exceeds labor pool availability.
2. Fast Food, Cafeteria, and Concessions-type dining jobs: These are positions that require the worker to preapre and serve dishes.
3. Retail and food service cashiers - includes grocery stores.
4. Wait Staff - Full service restaurant staff; part of the Travel and Tourism Industry.
5. Clerical: Office Clerks
6. General Cleaners and Janitors (also called maintenance men)
7. Bookkeeping and Accounting Clerks and related clerks - These entail a greater breadth of training and include more responsibilities than the position of general office clerk. They also are more important, given the ever-increasing use of Forensic Accounting techniques and in assisting Executive Forensic Accountants.  
8. Receptionists/Greeting Clerks/Customer Information Desk Clerks
9. Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) - In-person, Internet, telephone.
10. General Managers and Operations Managers

Most of these occupations are in the Services Industries and many are also involved in Healthcare Industry settings: hospitals, medical schools, clinics, and private practices.

The graph above illustrates the high points of job listings growth from January 2006 through January 2011, although fluctuations occured yearly.

Kasier Permanente and Providence Health are the leaders in Healthcare Industry jobs in Oregon, which is in the highest demand for occupations here in the 2010s. Intel is the leading hiring company in IT/Computers. Safeway, Strarbucks, and Taco Bell lead in food-related service jobs.

The numbers of job listings in Oregon has increased overall from 2006 - 2nd Qtr 2011, with fluctuations. Approximately 60,100 job listings were found across the Internet during mid-April 2011.

Highest Demand Jobs In Oregon

1. Physical Therapists
2. Occupational Therapists
3. Account Executives - Largely investment, finance, wholesale sales
4. Software Engineers
5. Sales Representatives
6. Baristas – Starbucks and other restaurants
7. Shift Supervisors – Various industries.
8. Salespeople
9. Registered Nurses (RNs) - Increasing numbers of Nurse Practitioners are in high demand within this category.
10. Food Clerk/Cashiers
11. Courtesy Clerk/CSRs
12. Physicians in Family Practice. thsi used to be falled GP or General Practitioner. As more and more doctors specialized in certain fields 1980 - 2000, the nation fell into a shortage of GPs.
13. Deli Clerks – grocery stores
14. Project Managers
15. AVON sales – Independent Contractors. Increasing numbres of Americans are becoming independent contractors in such fields as retail sales, freelance writing, and others.

PORTLAND AREA

A full 38,000 jobs of the 60,000+ listings in Oregon were located within a 25-mile radius of Portland in 2011 and in the spring of 2012, 36,000 out of 58,000 jobs were located in the same area.

This circle encompasses about 63% or more of all available jobs in the state of Oregon.

Software Engineers are highest in-demand workers in this area, primarily for Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon.

JOB POSTING SNAPSHOT: MAY 2012 HIGHEST DEMAND JOBS FOR PORTLAND

1. Software Engineers
2. Shift Supervisors and Baristas
3. Registered Nurses (RNs) - includes Travel Nurses
4. Physical Therapists
5. Occupational Therapists
6. Customer Service Representative
7. Sales Representatives
8. Pharmacists
9. Administrative Assistants
10. Project Managers
11. Java Developers
12. Physicians
13. Mechanical Engineers
14. Physician Assistants
15. Systems Engineers
16. Validation Engineers
17. Hardware Engineers
18. Certified Nursing Aides
19. Test Engineers
20. Quality and other Engineers