Miami Medical Jobs, Education Jobs See Highest Employment Ever
Although the area’s unemployment rate has continued to climb and is now higher than the national average, more Miami medical jobs and education jobs are currently in existence than ever before.
During October, the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall area saw its unemployment rate increase from 11.4 percent to 11.8 percent, following a decrease from 11.8 percent during September. The area’s current rate is higher than the national unemployment rate at the time of 10.2 percent.
The Miami area’s education and health services industry employed 157,200 workers during October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. this is up from 156,000 workers during September and a 1 percent decrease from last year.
Employment in the industry has varied throughout the year, mainly because of the current economic recession, starting at 154,200 workers during January and decreasing to 152,200 workers during July. Regardless of that fluctuation, current employment numbers in the industry are the highest ever.
According to an article by Miami Today News, experts have varying opinions on the reasons for growth in the local education and health services industry. Antonio Villamil, an economist and dean of the St. Thomas University School of Business, said the added jobs are due to the abundance of higher education institutions in the area that attract students from all over.
“We’re talking about an area where Miami-Dade County has a competitive advantage,” he said. “Universities from all over the world are setting up here and attracting students from Chile, Spain, the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico.”
Marie McDemmond, dean of the Florida International University College of Education, thinks the growing demand for elementary school teachers combined with an increased presence of foreign students and the country’s immigration policies account for the high employment numbers.
“We went through a cycle where after September 11 we saw a tightening of the students coming in on visas, but that’s going back to where it was,” she said. “I believe you’re going to see some continued slow steady growth, but I don’t think we’ll see big jumps for another two years.”
Isaac Prilleltensky, dean of the University of Miami School of Education, said growth in the education and health services industry can be attributed to the fact that the amount of training needed to become an elementary school teacher has decreased as demand for teachers has increased.
“We’re going to need about 2 million teachers in the next few years,” he said. “Because of a great shortage (of teachers), many school districts are opening alternative pathways to certification that entails some summer programs and taking a few courses. It’s not the best solution, but that may explain in part why you see the trends you see.”
Other experts think growth in the industry is due more to a growth in healthcare, which has seen an increase in international patients, ambulatory services, federal money for electronic medical records and the life sciences research sector.
Linda Quick, president of the South Florida Hospital & Healthcare Association, said some funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has gone to the healthcare industry, and combined with an increase in international patients, has accounted for growth in the industry.
“There are more people working in healthcare and there are also more settings (in which healthcare is offered),” she said. “Walgreens has healthcare now, Wal-Mart has a healthcare center, Macy’s and Baptist have a partnership to provide mammograms to people while they’re shopping. There are more alternative locations and alternatives to hospitals.”
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