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Geospatial Employment

GIS Job Growth

The last two decades have witnessed strong job growth for those with geospatial skills. Once, one only needed to decode the GIS acronym to find employment. In the 21st century, employers have become more cautious and savvy regarding GIS qualifications. Today, employers are looking for proof of competency, either through certification, education transcripts, ESRI Virtual Campus courses transcripts, or qualifying scores on statewide examinations.

The United States Department of Labor, based on data developed by the Geospatial Information & Technology Association, indicates an annual growth rate of 35% for the general employment market, with a 100% growth rate within the commercial (private) employment subsection. The Department of Labor also acknowledged geospatial technology as being one of the three technology areas with the potential to generate the greatest number of new jobs over the next 10 years.

Besides the commercial sector, the next largest specific GIS growth sector includes the United States geospatial intelligence community. This community includes the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the United States Department of State, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the United States National Security Agency (NSA). Other federal, state, and local agencies are also major developers and consumers of geospatial technologies.

For more information, the following links are provided.

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