So, Where Are the Jobs?

Corporate profits are up. Stock prices are up. So why isn't anyone hiring? Actually, many American companies are — just maybe not in your town. They're hiring overseas, where sales are surging and the pipeline of orders is fat.

The trend helps explain why unemployment remains high in the United States, edging up to 9.8 percent last month, even though companies are performing well. Many economists blame the government for providing tax incentives to outsource jobs to other countries. The 112th Congress will probably consider removing these incentives as a strategy to help increase employment in this country.

So, as the U.S. economy begins to grow again, many of the jobs that are in demand will be very different than those that disappeared during the last decade and during the recent recession. The new employment opportunities will depend on the skills needed within specific career clusters, which will in turn be guided by demand for goods and services within that cluster. Employers will look not only for people who are highly skilled and well educated in their areas of proficiency but also for those who can learn and adopt other professional skills, and work in a more "collaboration-based workplace."

Knowing the type of job opportunities that will present themselves in the future will help students and adults make more knowledgeable career decisions. The continuing trend of outsourcing jobs such as programming, tech support, customer service, content development, etc. to English-speaking, low labor-cost countries (such as India and China) will reduce the need for those jobs in the United States.

At the same time, positions that require your physical presence on location—such as being a nurse, carpenter, physician, hair stylist, etc.—may likely remain.

Some other priorities for homeland jobs are positions that are complex, have time constraints, need lots of interaction, or are deemed too ambiguous to be explained long-distance.

The projections of future employment trends given by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a definite increase of jobs in the service-providing industries. Out of every 10 jobs created, more than three will be in the healthcare, social assistance, and education sectors. This will include nursing and residential care facilities both in private and public hospitals. Healthcare will account for one of the highest-employment areas, given our aging population and increased life expectancy.

Students need to learn more about the careers of the future and be able to compare their talents and interests against the opportunities that an economic recovery will present to them during this decade. ProQuest editors have created a BookCart learning activity that provides a collection of the best resources for students to use in doing career research and analysis.

Teachers and librarians can copy our newest BookCart learning activity—"Career Exploration Resources"—and edit it quickly to insert additional resources, student directions, connections to printed resources, and essential questions for critical thinking for students to address.

All of these edits can be typed into the DESCRIPTION box of BookCart Editor to help your students to use the BookCart resources more effectively.

• Logon to the eLibrary CE TEACHER EDITION.
• Click the BOOKCART ADMIN link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the PROQUEST CARTS tab.
• Type "Career Exploration Resources" in the Search box.
• Click the COPY icon in the ACTIONS column to the right of this title.
• Click RETURN TO MY LOCAL CARTS.

This BookCart already includes ALL the information that a student needs to complete the assignment. But, teachers can edit any of this information to customize it to meet the needs of their students—differentiating instruction.

• Click the new BookCart Title; it will have the prefix "COPY OF."
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your first and last name in the AUTHOR boxes.
• Type your email address in the EMAIL box, or your initials as the required filler.
• Option: edit the samples of ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS in the DESCRIPTION box.
• Option: edit the STUDENT DIRECTIONS in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click SAVE.
• Click MY LOCAL CARTS tab to see your edited Cart, ready for your students to use.

You may also want to download our current complete listing of hundreds of ProQuest Carts collection.

The list is organized by curriculum area and the titles are in alphabetical order. Each Cart title is hyperlinked to the ProQuest collection, so that clicking it, while in the Teacher Edition http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/teacher, will give you a shortcut to copy it to your local collection.

Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words (or a PowerPoint presentation of at least seven slides) that cites at least three resources. Students should focus on a specific career cluster that appeals to them. They should use the Pathfinders listed below to access the best information quickly.

Students should address the following essential questions for critical thinking in their reports (you can substitute others):

• Why is this career cluster of interest to you?
  
  
• What are the prospects for growth of this career cluster and why?
  
  
• What skills and interests do you have that make this career cluster a good fit for you?
  
  
• What type of education is needed to succeed in this career cluster?

1: Click the Topics Search tab > Type "Careers" in the Search box > Select "Career Planning and Strategies"

2: Select Advanced Search > Enter "Career Planning" in the Search box > Type "Careers" in the Document Title box > Sort results by Date

Your students may use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Teachers may be interested in a ProQuest flexible rubrics model for evaluating inquiry-based learning activities.

Educators may also wish to employ the Quizinator Web tool (free, but registration required) for creating a variety of printed resources, including short assessments.

With so many jobs being outsourced to India and China, there has been a growing interest in learning more about the history, people, and the culture of these countries. Studying the works of Indian authors gives students a taste of the culture and traditions of this country.

Assign students to select an Indian author (you can also assign this author from the results list) and then write a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources. Student should use the pathfinder below to find the best results and save time.

Students should address the following essential questions for critical thinking (you may want to add or substitute others):

• What are the themes expressed in the work of this author?
  
  
• What does the literary criticism say about the author's works?
  
  
• What have you learned about the culture of India from this research?
  
  

Type "Indian Authors" in the Search box > Click "More" > Select one of the authors listed

Your students can use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Teachers may be interested in a ProQuest flexible rubrics model for evaluating inquiry-based learning activities.

Educators may also wish to employ the Quizinator Web tool (free, but registration required) for creating a variety of printed resources, including short assessments.

With so many jobs being outsourced to India and China, there has been a growing interest in learning more about the history, people, and the culture of these countries. Studying the historically significant leaders and events of Indian history helps students expand their global awareness and understand the growth of India as an economic power in the 21st Century.

Assign students to choose one of the two Study Units about India listed in the pathfinder below. Have them select one leader and two events from the Results List that are significant in this era. They should write a report of at least 150 words or a presentation of at least seven slides that cites at least three resources.

Students should address the following Essential Questions for critical thinking (you can add or substitute others):

• How did this leader help improve life for the people of India?
  
  
• What strategies did this leader use to overcome the obstacles he/she faced?
  
  
• What happened in this event and how did it contribute to the advancement of Indians?

Click the Study Units tab > Type "India" in the Keyword search box > Click one of the following Study Units: South Asia since independence, 1947-2; India: independence and partition, 1920-1947

Your students can use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Teachers may be interested in a ProQuest flexible rubrics model for evaluating inquiry-based learning activities.

Educators may also wish to employ the Quizinator Web tool (free, but registration required) for creating a variety of printed resources, including short assessments.