The Changing World of Work

• Between 1900 and 2002, the percentage of the work force that is white collar grew from less than 18% of the work force to 60%.1
• While manual workers comprised 41% of the work force in 1950, by 2002, their proportion had shrunk to less than 24% of the work force.2
• The work force is more equally comprised of men and women. In 2002, women accounted for almost 47% of the work force, up from 29% in 1950.3
• Women are the majority of professional, technical, and administrative support workers.4

Unions Reflect Changes in the Work Force

• The labor movement is almost 50% white collar.5
• There are more union members among professionals than any other occupational group.6
• The number of professionals who are union members rose from 3 million in 1991 to 3.8 million in 2002.7
• Union representation among professionals was about 22% in 2002 while union representation was less than 15% among the total work force.8
• Significant numbers of technical and administrative support workers are also in unions.9
• Women comprised 42% of the labor movement in 2002.10

Professional and Technical Employment is Exploding

• More than 26 million Americans (19.4%) of the work force were employed in the professions and as highly skilled technicians in 2002. By 2010, almost 34 million (more than 20% of the work force) are expected to be employed in these occupations.11
• Employment in professional and technician occupations is projected to grow faster and to add more workers (7 million) than any other major occupational group. This amounts to a 26% increase in employment for professional and technical workers between 2000 and 2010. (Total U.S. employment is projected to increase by 15% over this period.)12

Professional Occupations with Very Rapid Growth

• Eight of the ten occupations projected to grow most rapidly are computer-related, or information technology, occupations. These occupations are also expected to add the most jobs – some two million between 2000 and 2010.13
• Health care practitioners and technical occupations are projected to add 1.6 million jobs between 2000 and 2010. Registered nurses will account for more than one-third of these jobs.14
• Education, training and library occupations are expected to add 1.6 million jobs. Four out of five of these jobs are forecasted for public and private education services.15
• Community and social services occupations are expected to add 529,000 jobs and have the second fastest growth among professional and related occupations.16

The Service Sector: More Jobs and Degrees

• The service sector will continue to be the dominant employment generator in the economy, adding 20.5 million jobs by 2010. It will account for virtually all wage and salary employment growth.17
• As employment in the service sector increases by 19.5%, manufacturing is expected to increase by only 5% between 2000 and 2010.18
• Two out of every three new jobs created in the U.S. from 2000–2010 will be in the service industry. Health, education, and personnel supply services will account for 6.3 million of these new jobs.19
• The new economy requires a better educated work force. Occupations requiring a college degree or other postsecondary award which accounted for 29% of all jobs in 2000, will account for 42% of total job growth between 2000 and 2010.20
• The number of bachelor’s degrees expected to be conferred in 2010 is 15% greater than in 2000; the number of master’s degrees, 11% greater, first professional, 7% greater, and PhDs, 5% greater.21
• Women have been earning more bachelor’s degrees than men since 1982, and more master’s degrees than men since 1981. Women are expected to earn 55% of all bachelor’s degrees in 2003, 59% of all master’s, 43% of all doctorates, and 46% of all first professional degrees. These trends are expected to continue and the gap between men and women earning professional and doctoral degrees will narrow.22

Source:	DPE Research Department 815 16th Street, NW, N.W., # 1030 Washington, D.C. 20005 3/3/03
Contact:	Pamela Wilson 202-638-6684

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) comprises unions representing four million people working in professional, technical and administrative support occupations. DPE affiliated unions represent: journalists and writers, broadcast technicians and communications specialists; librarians, teachers, college professors, and school administrators; engineers, scientists, and IT workers; nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals; performing and visual artists; professional athletes, social workers, and many others. DPE was chartered by the AFL-CIO in 1977 in recognition of the fast-growing professional, technical, and other highly skilled white collar occupations.

NOTES:

1. 1. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the U.S., Colonial Times to 1970, 1975; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2003.
2. Ibid.
3. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Perspectives on Working Women, Bulletin 2080; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2003.
4. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2003.
5. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, News, "Union Members in 2002," USDL 03–88, 2003.
6. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, News, "Union Members in 2002," USDL 03–88, 2003.
7. Ibid; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 1992, 2003.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Hecker, Daniel, "Occupational Employment Projections to 2010," U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 124, No. 11, November 2001.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid; Berman, Jay, "Industry Output and Employment," U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 124, No. 11, November 2001.
18. Berman, Jay, "Industry Output and Employment," op. cit.
19. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Career Guide to Industries, Bulletin 2541, 2002.
20. Hecker, Daniel, "Occupational Employment Projections to 2010," op. cit.
21. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics: 2001.
22. Ibid.