Geoscience Occupations
Employment Opportunities for Geoscientists
Employment in geoscience-related occupations is expected to grow about 23 percent between 2008 and 2018, which is much faster than the average growth of all U.S. occupations (10%). Environmental engineers are expected to see the largest growth in number of new jobs with a 31 percent growth rate, while geoscience engineering managers are expected to see the smallest growth at 10 percent. Employment growth for aggregated geoscience-related occupations will be most robust in the professional, scientic, and technical services sector (50%) and the waste management sector (32%).
The image above provides an indication of the job market for those with advanced degrees. Academia continues to employ the majority of Ph.D. grads. Those with Master's degrees are overwhelmingly employed within the private sector. Studies have shown private sector employment is largely subdivided into the petroleum industry, groundwater and geotechnical firms and to a lesser extent, the mining industry.