Table Test Article 1

Hawaiʻi is projected to add 41,200 jobs over the next eight years, according to a new analysis by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations that is intended in part as a guide for “students and jobseekers who are making career decisions.”

The employment forecast characterized that 6% employment growth rate over eight years as moderate and noted that nearly all industries are expected to expand, with the health care, food service and transportation industries leading the gains. The industries expected to lose jobs would be government; retail trade; and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting.

However, the three occupational groups — each industry has subsets of occupational groups — projected to create the most new jobs are considered lower-wage occupations: food preparation and serving; transportation and material moving; and health care support.

Transportation and material moving, an industry fueled by the growth in e-commerce, according to the report, includes stockers and order fillers and manual laborers who move freight, luggage and similar goods.

Within occupation groups are specific jobs. And six of the top 10 jobs expected to have the strongest growth into 2032 are considered lower-wage jobs. Among those are: restaurant cooks, growing by 3,270 jobs by 2032; fast food and counter workers, adding 2,140 jobs in that period; and home health and personal care aides, with 2,100 new jobs. The report attributed those increases to Hawaiʻi’s continued dependence on tourism and its aging population.

Nearly three quarters of the new job openings expected here by 2032 will require no higher education.

“While the report does not characterize this as an economic vulnerability, the concentration of growth in lower-paying jobs could pose challenges for income distribution if wage growth in these sectors does not keep pace with living costs,” said Chavonnie Ramos, a spokesperson for the department.