Employment Outlook

Overall employment opportunities are excellent for geographers. Environmental specialists and those with GIS will experience faster than average growth. Economic recovery in city and county government and deregulation of communications and utilities may contribute to increases in employment opportunities for geographers.

Greater concern for the environment and its use by growing populations will inevitably create more positions for physical geographers. Geographers will be needed to prepare and review complex environmental impact statements and to act as consultants in environmental preservation and management.

Government opportunities in urban and regional planning remain healthy and are expected to increase with improvements in the economy. Currently utility companies provide the fastest growing demand. Ever changing patterns of population growth and migration and associated social ills require geographic analysis. As the economy expands and business becomes more sensitive to environmental concerns, geographers will be in demand as consultants to generate resource development that is the least ecologically damaging. Urban areas, which are continually expanding, will find it increasingly necessary to turn to geographers to aid in finding solutions to problems which accompany rapid urban growth. As leisure time increases, travel will become more common and geographers will be needed not only to plan tours, but to evaluate the real and potential impact of large numbers of tourists on various regions. As more and more organizations recognize the significance and applicability of the particular skills of the geographer, innovative use of those skills will surely increase.

Click here for a list of job titles of CSUF Geography alumni.