Health of Fields: Winners and Losers

The health of an industry is judged by what kind of people are attracted to it. When I was taking computer classes in 1995 and 1996, the classroom was packed with eager, motivated people who were determined to make something of their lives. When I took a computer class in 2001, the classroom was much more sparsely attended, and most people in it came across to me as losers.

I've been both a winner and a loser; and I am not judging these people. I am however noticing a pattern. The better the prospects of an industry, the more winners it attracts. The worse the prospects of an industry, the more it is likely that the people that it attracts are going to be losers.

Right now I am doing training in aged care; and I am very impressed with other people looking for work in the field. At the place where I am doing my training, many of the students are kind, strong and even saintly. Of course aged care is going to be a growing field as baby boomers retire; and, given what I have seen of the other people moving into the field, there are long-term prospects in aged care.

Of course eventually, as baby boomers start dying, this field is going to shrink; but there is a lot of time before that happens. Eventually the winners will start leaving the field, and eventually the losers will dominate the interested population. There is however a long time until then. So I am leaving a field where I can't compete and moving into a field that is growing. And from what I've seen so far, there is a lot that stands to be done in this field.