Antoine Alston, Ph.D. recently contributed to a NIFA report highlighting the strong job market for agricultural science majors. "This report illustrates what we've found to be true in the CAES," Alston said.
A strong job market awaits new college graduates with degrees in the agricultural sciences, according to a new report released in December by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Purdue University College of Agriculture.
According to the report “Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Agriculture, Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment in the United States, 2020-2025,” U.S. college graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher in agriculture-related fields can expect approximately 59,400 job opportunities annually between 2020 and 2025, a 2.6 percent growth from the previous five years. Employer demand will exceed the supply of available graduates for the next five years despite impacts from the current COVID pandemic, the report says.
Most of the employment opportunities are predicted to be in business and management (42 percent) and science and engineering (31 percent.) Other openings will come from the education, communication and government fields (14 percent), and food and biomaterials production (13 percent.) All together, nearly 92 percent of those jobs are predicted to be held by students whose majors deal with food, agriculture, renewable natural resources majors., according to the report.
Antoine Alston, Ph.D., associate dean for academic studies in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, contributed to the report.
“The report illustrates and expands upon what we’ve found to be true in the CAES,” Alston said. “Our career placement is very high because the demand for the skills we teach our students is great. Our preparation of them is also great.”
The agricultural industry is the nation’s largest employer, accounting for more than 22 million individuals employed.
“The dual challenges of competing in a world market and rapid technological advancements have resulted in a work environment that requires workers at all levels to solve problems, create ways to improve the methods they use, and engage effectively with their coworkers,” Alston said. “Employers recognize workers who demonstrate this highly skilled, adaptive blend of technical and human relations ability as their primary competitive edge, and we stress this combination in the CAES.”
The report is the ninth in a series of five-year projections initiated by the USDA in 1980.
