Where will the jobs will be and how do you guide students in the right direction?

As a working parent, it's hard enough finding the time and energy to encourage your children through everyday decisions of life, let alone the big picture questions of careers that lie ahead. It may help, though, to know what the areas of demand will be in 10 to 20 years time.

To see into the future, it helps to have a look at where the key industries lie today. 

Based on figures from September 2000, there are 9.1 million jobs in Australia, 54 per cent of which are jobs that did not exist 35 years ago. And current information suggests that 70 per cent of jobs currently listed by the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) won't be in existence in 2020.

Industries of the Future

There are 10 industries from which the growth of jobs is coming, says business advisor and chairman of IBIS Business Information, Phil Ruthvin.

"These are the growing industries that will account for over 80 per cent of all jobs in the next 30 years," he says. 

1. Property and Business Services 

"This business is growing because big business is outsourcing functions they used to do for themselves," says Ruthvin. 

This includes property leasing by large corporations who no longer own their own buildings; accounting; legal services; personnel; IT and cleaning. This has led to over one million jobs already. 

2. Health 

This industry is growing, says Ruthvin, because parents are no longer staying at home to look after sick children. Families are using doctors, hospitals and specialists far more these days. 

3. Education 

University enrolments are skyrocketing and will continue to do so as more people study online in the future. Preschool, Ruthvin points out, didn't even exist 40 years ago. 

4. Financial Services 

Financial services are increasingly being used as people are committing more to superannuation funds, to investment funds and are using a variety of new financial services. 

5. Tourism 

In Australia we now go on more holidays and have more money to spend on holidays than ever before, says Ruthvin. We enjoy more leave and incomes have doubled over the last 30 years. Foreign tourism into Australia has also expanded as our country is no longer considered too far away or too expensive.

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