Top 10 Hot Jobs in Amarillo - Jobs Increasing through 2020

The Panhandle Workforce Development Area of Texas and its geographical location make an almost perfect square at the top of the state in the northwest sector of the map below. Another map below shows a close-up view of Amarillo that you can zoom to enlarge.

Amarillo is the largest city in the Texas Panhandle, which is designated an official Workforce Development Area. The Greater Amarillo Metro Area covers approximately four counties and the City of Amarillo lies in Potter County and part of Randall County as well.

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The city has been nicknamed The Yellow Rose of Texas, because amarillo means yellow in Spanish. In addition to this colorful name, Amarillo is also the Beef City,because it supports an active beef processing industry at Tyson's Meats, one of the largest employers in the metro area. Beef cattle raising and processing was big business before the advent of the modern company, however, dating back to the trail drives of the 1800s and the boom created by the coming of the railroads in the late 1880s for faster and larger transport of beef products.

Amarillo is also known as the home of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, since the city has been a leader in cattle feed production. It is also the headquarters for the renown American Quarter Horse Association. Horses and cattle as animal raising industries are both successful in Amarillo.

Aside from the designations above, Amarillo is also a nuclear weapons city. One of its largest employers, Pantex, is the only nuclear weapons assembly/dis-assembly plant in America. See a photo gallery of rail cars used to transport these weapons, now on exhibit at the Amarillo Railroad Museum: Nuclear Trains.

Amarillo is also recognized as one of the most famous stops on Route 66 in the 20^th Century.

After the Civil War, several cattle ranches became prosperous in the Panhandle and the town formed in 1887 near the approaching railroad tracks that were soon scheduled to cross the Panhandle. In just about a decade, the Amarillo economy had grown with the easier transport of cattle and beef as well as manufactured grain products by rail.

Oil and gas were discovered in and near Amarillo around 1920 and this was a boost to economy in energy production. World War II resulted in the opening of the local Pantex weaponry plant after the Dust Bowl of The Great Depression devastated local economy. New manufacturing plants came to Amarillo in the 1970s - 1980s, and the city continued to grow via incoming propulsion and new businesses.

Downtown reconstruction began with restorations and additions of new commercial buildings around 1971 and continued on into the 2000s. Many local homes and commercial builds are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Amarillo does a lot of business with Northeastern New Mexico and Oklahoma’s Panhandle region, becoming a business hub in the tri-state area.

The Pantex plant served as the last assembly point for 70,000 nuclear weapons produced in America during the Cold War. Plutonium warheads went together with their triggering devices, all these nuclear weapons built in underground bunkers about 17 miles outside the city limits.

It is said in modern legends that many of the residents of Amarillo believe that the world will come to an end in flames caused by a nuclear blast.

At the same time, the city has the reputation of being proud of its association with nuclear energy and weaponry production, holding huge patriotic parades for Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day.

Employment listings seem to have skyrocketed in the Amarillo area since July 2008, A downturn occurred around May 2009, followed by another increase in job listings, according to Texas labor statistics. A new upsurge in jobs occurred from 2011 - 2012.

Looking closely at the numbers and types of positions listed on several thousand job search sites and company home pages, Indeed.com and SimplyHired.com has found the following leading local industries to be:

• Healthcare,
• Retail Sales & Marketing,
• Trucking and Transportation, and the
• Restaurant Industry --

1. Healthcare - RNs, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Respiratory Therapists, and Physicians; all hired and placed through Job Cure at www.thejobcure.com.
2. Managers
3. Merchandising Reps
4. Assistant Store Managers
5. Restaurant Managers
6. Cashiers and Cooks (tie)
7. Team Members - Retail Sales and Food Service
8. Service Representatives
9. Independent Sales Representatives
10. Salespersons/Sales Associates

1. Hastings Entertainment, Inc. - Managers
2. Baptist St Anthony's Health System
3. Northwest Texas Healthcare System
4. Atlas; CDL Truckstop; LF Recruiting; S & A Logistics -- Trucking Industry
5. Pizza Hut and Taco Bell
6. United / Market Street / Amigos
7. Coca-Cola refreshments - Managers
8. Happy State Bank
9. CVS/pharmacy - Managers and Crew
10. McDonald's
11. Edward Jones - Financial Products
12. Bell Helicopter
13. Texas Tech University - Healthcare and Academic Jobs
14. Warren CAT

Many of the companies in the list above are healthcare, management recruiters, and trucking companies.

1. Amarillo Independent School District (4000+ employees)
2. Tyson Meats - Cattle meat processing into vacuum-packaged boxed beef. Recovery of bone, fat trim, and hides for the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and clothing industries.
3. BWXT Pantex - A segment of these employees are employed by the US Federal Government in defense and weaponry.
4. Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care Systems - See the official hospital ratings/evaluation page for this award-winning facility and programs at Healthgrades.
5. Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club
6. City of Amarillo
7. Northwest Texas Healthcare System
8. Texas Department of Criminal Justice
9. Affiliated Foods
10. VA MedicalCenter, Amarillo
11. Xcel Energy
12. Texas Tech University Health Science Center
13. United Supermarkets
14. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad - The HQ building in Downtown Amarillo has been restored to preserve it as a historic landmark and to upgrade the the area as part of ongoing urban revitalization.

1. Healthcare workers such as Doctors, Nurses, and other diagnostic and treatment positions
2. Retail Salespersons
3. Clerical Positions - office support, administration, etc..
4. Manufacturing and Production Jobs
5. Food Prep & Service Jobs
6. Construction Occupations
7. Mainstream and Special Education Teachers K-12
8. Management Positions
9. Farm Workers and Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse Workers
10. Food Processing Jobs

• Amarillo Dillas - Pro baseball in the United League Baseball association.
• Amarillo Dusters - Arena Football, AF2.
• Amarillo Gorillas - Minor league hockey.
• Rock Island Rail Trail - Biking, Hiking and green space.
• Route 66 Motor Speedway
• Amarillo Dragway
• Comanche Trail Golf Links
• Ross Rogers Golf Complex