Surge of health-care jobs expected in the D.C. area, study says

According to Georgetown University researchers at the Center for Education and the Workforce, the Washington, D.C. region is likely to see a surge in health-care jobs in the remainder of the decade as an aging population puts a strain on the modern workforce. The report predicts a 25 percent increase in health-care jobs across the country through 2020.

The commonwealth of Virginia is expected to have 482,370 health-care and social-assistance industry jobs by 2020, a 36 percent increase over 2010 levels. Maryland is projected to have 400,560 jobs in the industry by 2020, a 23 percent increase over the same decade. The nation’s capital could have 63,620 jobs, which represents a 20 percent increase. “The correlations we find are largely income-based,” said Anthony Carnevale, the center’s director. “The more middle-class and upper-middle-class people in an area, the more doctors you get. The more doctors you get, you tend to get a roughly equivalent share of support workers.” The report also cites the aging baby-boomer population as the biggest driver behind the anticipated rise in demand for health care.