Editor's Perspective
Amid all the depressing news about the collapse of the job market in fields ranging from real estate to journalism, it is encouraging to see that at least one field is growing faster than home-eviction work: GIS/GEOINT.
The work force plan of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is one prominent sign of the strong employment prospects of this fastdiversifying field. As Deputy Director Lloyd Rowland explains in this issue, NGA is currently conducting an aggressive hiring campaign, holding job fairs around the country and offering jobs to nearly 700 people, with plans to hire a total of about 1,200 people this year.
The job offers are especially remarkable in light of the fact that NGA has a very low attrition rate, with few employees leaving the agency except to retire. The small numbers that do depart frequently go to other federal agencies, which NGA officials think is actually a good thing because it spreads the doctrine of interoperability and agency collaboration.
Indeed, a visit to ESRI’s recent Federal User Conference in Washington, D.C., underscored how virtually every federal agency is making increasing use of geospatial technology in some way, and all of them are looking for trained or trainable people who can take advantage of the new systems being developed.
According to the Department of Labor, GIS is one of the three most important evolving employment fields, with much higher growth than average for all occupations through 2016. That fact has not gone unnoticed by the nation’s institutions of higher learning, which are more aware than ever of the need to offer programs that enable graduates to find jobs.
On a somewhat related personal note, I’d like to recognize the recent retirement of Dave Burpee, who has served as NGA’s chief spokesman since 2000. Dave has been an invaluable help to this publication throughout its history, and a leader in enhancing geospatial understanding throughout the press and public in general. We wish him well.
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