While the recent economic troubles in the United States have had prolonged effects on many industries, it has also dramatically changed the way employers look at potential candidates. After all, it's now quite common for even retail positions to see scores of applications when even a low-level or part-time position becomes available.
However, a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that it's men that have been more successful at gaining employment opportunities during the recession. According to new statistics from the agency, in the 12-month period that ended last November, 1.28 million men were hired compared to 600,000 women.
Retail has seen the largest growth in the employment of men, while manufacturers have added new male workers even as they reduced their levels of female employees, reports say. Due to this change, the percentage of women in the workplace has dropped by 0.5 percent from a peak in 2009, when nearly half of all employees in the workforce were women.
"Education and health care jobs are now getting cut, and those are the jobs that have traditionally employed females," Stephanie Coontz, co-chairwoman of the Council on Contemporary Families, told the report.
However, some healthcare jobs are being added at a higher level than average. For example, due to the widespread use of electronic medical records, eprescribing and other cutting-edge technology in these facilities, women who enroll in an online computer training class this year may be able to confidently seek employment in this sector.
Likewise, IT positions in other fields can be attained with the right Microsoft or Cisco certification, and recent reports indicate that many of these jobs are expected to see salary increases in the coming years.