The 10 hottest jobs in Michigan in 2015

**Jimaz** · January-07-15, 10:35 AM

The 10 hottest jobs in Michigan in 2015

Specialized IT security companies are also booming, particularly in the Ann Arbor area, where tech companies Duo Security, Barracuda Networks and Arbor Networks are flourishing.

Commercial drivers
Ethical hackers
Specialized nurses and nurse practitioners
Welders
High-tech sales and marketing associates
User-interface software developers
Electronic medical record data specialists
Systems engineers
Data scientists
Computer numeric control programmers

That list seems kind of heavy on the tech side. I heard there was recently some kind of job fair with some 3,000 openings but only some 300 people attended.

**gameguy56** · January-07-15, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

The 10 hottest jobs in Michigan in 2015

Commercial drivers
Ethical hackers
Specialized nurses and nurse practitioners
Welders
High-tech sales and marketing associates
User-interface software developers
Electronic medical record data specialists
Systems engineers
Data scientists
Computer numeric control programmers

That list seems kind of heavy on the tech side. I heard there was recently some kind of job fair with some 3,000 openings but only some 300 people attended.

I'd love to hear of the name of that job fair. This seems like carefully crafted propaganda in order to drive down wages for people actually employed in these sectors.

**animatedmartian** · January-07-15, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by gameguy56

I'd love to hear of the name of that job fair. This seems like carefully crafted propaganda in order to drive down wages for people actually employed in these sectors.

Wouldn't the lack of hires drive up wages? Why would a company struggling to find employees offer less pay? That seems like a self-inflicting wound.

**Jimaz** · January-07-15, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Wouldn't the lack of hires drive up wages?...

I would assume so.

Maybe gameguy56 means that if too many people get steered into these jobs, then that glut of people will drive down their pay. I dunno.

Sorry, I didn't catch the name of the job fair as I was distracted from the story. I probably heard it on WWJ radio though. Maybe the story is recorded somewhere on their website at detroit.cbslocal.com.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · January-07-15, 04:11 PM

OTR truck drivers are always in demand. I wonder is it because the pay isn't that great, at least that's what I've heard.

**Jimaz** · January-07-15, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

OTR truck drivers are always in demand. I wonder is it because the pay isn't that great, at least that's what I've heard.

FWIW, the article said

New Con-way drivers earn salaries ranging from $50,000 to $55,000, receive three weeks of vacation and get health care insurance.

The "Ethical Hacker" job gave me a chuckle. I once bought a book by that title and didn't realize until later that it was written by a child. I felt a bit ripped off but didn't mind helping to launch a kid's writing career. It was a very well written book though.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · January-07-15, 05:47 PM

I thought I'd see unregulated chicken and goat farmer on this list

**animatedmartian** · January-07-15, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

I would assume so.

Maybe gameguy56 means that if too many people get steered into these jobs, then that glut of people will drive down their pay. I dunno.

If that's the case, people quit and find other jobs leaving the company starved of employees. Eventually wages find an equilibrium.

**Jimaz** · January-07-15, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

If that's the case, people quit and find other jobs leaving the company starved of employees. Eventually wages find an equilibrium.

Agreed. Plus, filling new positions creates shortages of employees elsewhere, driving up compensation there.

From the above-cited Detroit.CBSLocal.com: The Leaders & Innovators Series 2014 [["scheduled for February 12, 2015")

Attracting, hiring and retaining talent is one of the most important, yet often, difficult challenges an organization must face. The competition for talent can be fierce, and retention of a multi-faceted team can be tricky. For Detroit, and the entire state of Michigan, businesses not only need to comb for solid local talent but they must also entice out-of-market talent who want to make Detroit a workplace destination....

It's refreshing to read that kind of language after so many years of jobless recovery.

The times they are a changing. ♫

**Jimaz** · January-07-15, 09:26 PM

Intel Allocates $300 Million for Workplace Diversity

On Tuesday, Intel said the company’s work force would better reflect the available talent pool of women and underrepresented minority groups in the United States within five years. If successful, the plan would increase the population of women, blacks, Hispanics and other groups at Intel by at least 14 percent during that period, the company said.

In addition, Intel said it has established a $300 million fund to be used in the next three years to improve the diversity of the company’s work force, attract more women and minorities to the technology field and make the industry more hospitable to them once they get there. The money will be used to fund engineering scholarships and to support historically black colleges and universities....

“This is the right time to make a bold statement,” Brian M. Krzanich, Intel’s chief executive, said in a phone interview.

It just keeps getting better!

**CrashDummy** · January-07-15, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by gameguy56

I'd love to hear of the name of that job fair. This seems like carefully crafted propaganda in order to drive down wages for people actually employed in these sectors.

Maybe it's such carefully crafted propaganda that it defies the law of supply and demand. Hell, they probably invented the whole supply and demand fallacy as well, them being so crafty.

**ABetterDetroit** · January-08-15, 01:35 AM

What I think should be required is that all colleges and universities in Michigan that take puplic funding should make all freshman take a 2 credit class with mandatory attendance that studies the fields that are hiring and the degrees that are hot in the job market now. Also take a look at the degrees that are struggling to find jobs. Way too many kids are getting degrees in fields that have little turnover in their job markets. Without state intervention, the schools will keep taking the money from the students and sending them on their way with a degree in a crowded field or degrees that are not very sought after. To the schools it's just business, but they fail to educate the kids in what the value of their degree will be after graduation. I have seen resumes that have educations on them that would be useless for what they are applying for way too often.

**ddaydetroit** · January-09-15, 01:40 PM

I agree with welders being a hot job in the weld shop I am at now good welders are almost impossible to find. Good welders with good work ethics are all working and if they are not almost always there is a good reason for it. Earlier this year we had ads running 1000 dollar new hire bonus for guys that could pass a weld test we did not get near the responses I thought we would and the guys that did come in for a weld test did not pass it the couple of qualified guys that did respond wanted over 30 dollars an hour to quit there jobs and work for us.
We contacted some of the that had weld programs one of the instructors told me he had 5 jobs for every good student.

**bailey** · January-09-15, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by ABetterDetroit

What I think should be required is that all colleges and universities in Michigan that take puplic funding should make all freshman take a 2 credit class with mandatory attendance that studies the fields that are hiring and the degrees that are hot in the job market now. Also take a look at the degrees that are struggling to find jobs. Way too many kids are getting degrees in fields that have little turnover in their job markets. Without state intervention, the schools will keep taking the money from the students and sending them on their way with a degree in a crowded field or degrees that are not very sought after. To the schools it's just business, but they fail to educate the kids in what the value of their degree will be after graduation. I have seen resumes that have educations on them that would be useless for what they are applying for way too often.

You want to see that happen overnight? Make student loan debt dischargable in bankruptcy. The diploma mill system we have now would collapse overnight. As it stands now, there is zero incentive for the universities to alter anything about what they do.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · January-09-15, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by ddaydetroit

I agree with welders being a hot job in the weld shop I am at now good welders are almost impossible to find. Good welders with good work ethics are all working and if they are not almost always there is a good reason for it. Earlier this year we had ads running 1000 dollar new hire bonus for guys that could pass a weld test we did not get near the responses I thought we would and the guys that did come in for a weld test did not pass it the couple of qualified guys that did respond wanted over 30 dollars an hour to quit there jobs and work for us.
We contacted some of the that had weld programs one of the instructors told me he had 5 jobs for every good student.

So do you think $30 per hr is too much? That's about what a excellent welder makes at a machine shop or auto plant isn't it?

**ddaydetroit** · January-14-15, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

So do you think $30 per hr is too much? That's about what a excellent welder makes at a machine shop or auto plant isn't it?

Show me any welding jobs starting guys 30 dollars an hour in Detroit yes we have a few at my shop but even a skilled welder it takes 1 to 2 years to learn how weld all the different steels so for us we are better off hiring a guy making less then once he gets the skills bring up his pay.

Not one of our competitors pays what we are paying and its hard to stay competitive in the industry paying 10 dollars more an hour then the competition.