Stone, Concrete, Ceramics, and Glass Careers Outlook
The outlook is not rosy for the stone, concrete, ceramics, and glass industries. The industries producing ceramic products are expected to see declines in employment, particularly among assemblers and fabricators; furnace, kiln, oven, and kettle operators; crushing and mixing machine operators; precision inspectors; and grinders and polishers. Declines here are often partly the result of increased automation and decreased demand for products. There will be more opportunities for workers in research and testing, health, and engineering and architectural services. Ceramic materials have been touted as having the potential to solve many of the world’s industrial and environmental problems. Although scientists are finding many new uses for ceramic materials, the development of many new materials is still in its infancy. Ceramic materials provide a good solution to the energy problems posed by the high-temperature, corrosive environments involved in solar heating, nuclear reactors, geothermal heat production, and gas turbines, for example.
In all four industries, the number of engineering jobs will probably be higher than the number of jobs for production workers. Employment of engineers is expected to grow in the next five years. The growth will be necessary to meet the demands for new materials and to adapt existing products to new applications.
The stone, concrete, ceramics, and glass industries are quite dependent on other industries, especially construction and automaking. This means that if the other industries are very active, demand will increase.
For More Information:
- American Ceramic Society
- Associated General Contractors of America
- The Corning Museum of Glass
- The Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society
- National Glass Association (NGA)
- Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association
Related Career Fields:
Related Careers:
- Bricklayers and Stonemasons
- Cement Masons
- Ceramic Engineers
- Glass Manufacturing Workers
- Glaziers
- Industrial Designers
- Industrial Engineers
- Marble Setters, Tile Setters, and Terrazzo Workers
- Plastics Products Manufacturing Workers