Consistent employment growth through 2014 carries Oregon into a promising 2015 for the state’s job market.
And in the new year, the best jobs in Oregon are reflective of the state’s most in-demand fields, many of which are in the thriving healthcare and information technology sectors.
Healthcare companies are among Oregon’s top employers, a Business Oregon survey finds. Providence Health System, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Oregon Health and Science University are three of the Oregon’s top employers, the survey finds. State of Oregon Employment Department (SOED) data demonstrates the high demand in healthcare jobs through booming hiring projections and competitive wages.
Few jobs are expected to grow quite like physician assistant, which the SOED projects at 38.7% growth by 2022, with an average annual wage of $105,666. High-demand jobs in Oregon’s healthcare sector are not limited to providing hands-on patient care, however.
The SOED estimates medical health services managers, on the business side, and computer systems analysts, on the tech side, are two of the state’s top hiring and paying healthcare fields.
Oregon may not have the reputation as a tech hub its neighbors in Seattle and California’s Silicon Valley do, but one of the state’s top employers, Intel, calls Hillsboro home.
Hardware drives Oregon’s tech industry, and a computer hardware engineer in the state can net an average annual salary more than $13,000 per year more than the national median pay.
Oregon is also home to top retail distributors, recognized nationally and globally.
Nike is an international powerhouse that employs 7,000 locally in Beaverton. Furniture manufacturer Fred Meyers, headquartered in Portland, employs over 14,000 Oregonians.
Building brands like these that have widespread recognition requires top-level marketing. Thus, a marketing manager in Oregon can net $98,959 annually. And with other businesses in the state growing, the demand for marketing is evident in a growth outlook of almost 20%.
Many of these same businesses require logisticians to streamline the distribution process and ensure products reach their destinations in the most timely and cost-efficient manner. At 26.4%, logistician is one of Oregon’s highest-growth professions.
Using metrics from the CareerCast.com Jobs Rated report, with employment data and wages culled from the SOED, here are the best jobs in Oregon for 2015: