infrastructure employment up in all sectors, says report

Solar photovoltaic technicians and solar photovoltaic installers are expected to see a roughly 100 percent growth in employment over the course of the next eight years.

While every employment segment associated with infrastructure work will see marked increased employment opportunities, those two professions are forecast to experience the most dramatic gains.

Such numbers have been compiled by a new report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics which also show job gains in the 10 to 20 percent range for environmental engineering technicians, electrical power-line installers, pile-driver operators, and heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers.

Pipelayers and earth drillers are also forecast to see job gains just short of 20 percent.

The report, The Employment Outlook for Occupations Tasked with Building America’s Infrastructure, authored by economist Patricia Tate, additionally notes that “overall, infrastructure-related occupations pay well. Most have median annual wages higher than the median for all occupations, which was $37,690 in May 2017.”

Construction managers, on average, are currently earning the highest wages in the infrastructure world, with sales of more than $91,000 annually.

Landscape architects, power-line installers, and cost estimators are among the infrastructure industry professions expected to average between $60,000 and $80,000 annually in the next 8 years.

Meanwhile, civil engineers, environmental engineers, and health and safety engineers will all be in the above $80,000 category.

The report concludes by noting that the “nation’s demand for new infrastructure and the maintenance and improvements of existing infrastructure will help to drive the demand for these occupations.”

By Garry Boulard

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