My guess for a growing job field...

...would probably be coaching (business/life coaching, job training, etc.) and psychology/counseling. The economy seems to be getting exponentially worse, and people's emotions are as frayed and decayed as the threads that hold their wallets together (which are more like cobwebs now).

IMHO this situation creates a need for people to train in counseling fields -- not just emotional counseling but financial too (a lot of what goes into making or re-accumulating wealth is attitude and self-esteem), that would help people get back on their feet money-wise and especially with regards to their personal strength. Too often in the Western world especially we are conditioned to believe it is a weakness to ask for help, and there is still a stigma as regards mental illness or perceived instability. Not saying job loss necessarily indicates preexisting mental ailments, but human instinct is to react negatively when one's security is threatened -- especially if it impacts others in the family.

People will more readily admit to having things like hypertension or even the big C because those are considered chiefly physical ailments, but depression or anxiety "for no good reason" is dismissed as either moodiness that will pass if you "snap out of it" or demonized as a personal flaw. So-called physical ailments do have an emotional impact, and the emotional impact of job loss or wage-cutting does carry with it a physical element too. (How many people turn to drugs or alcohol, become stress eaters, and/or develop hypertension and high cholesterol because of emotional woes going on in their lives?)

Again, not everyone would be suited for this kind of job -- I know I wouldn't, because I just naturally get too emotionally attached (you'd be surprised to find how many psychologists/counselors end up in hospitals or intensive treatment themselves). But just from a passive angle, a common-sense perspective (I'm not a sociology or psych major myself), it seems that more and more, people are going to need to reach out and seek help from qualified third parties who can help them get back on track again. I would say an important part of recovering from this economic crisis has to do with acknowledging that we can't pull ourselves out of the muck alone.

In other words. no man is an island, least of all if the island is close to becoming a lake!

Read more about the prospects of the counseling field from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) online. Job growth is deemed to be "faster than the average" for all occupations.

OOH entry for "Community and Social Services" under "Professional and Related Occupations"
http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco1002.htm#comm

And as a bonus, a "call" for help in more ways than one.

Diana Ross - "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand" (AT&T commercial theme from 1981)


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