Here's food for thought: Everyone knows that 2009 marked the continuation of the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. This downturn commonly referred to as the "Great Recession" featured two consecutive years of job losses with more than 7.2 million net jobs eliminated. Putting it in perspective, the 7.2 million jobs lost since the beginning of this recession is larger than the combined job losses of the 1981/82, 1990/91 and 2000/01 recessions (7.1 million).
Here's what you probably didn't know. The salon industry outperformed the national economy in 2009. While the overall economy was losing jobs at rates not seen in decades, the salon industry fared comparatively well. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall private sector shed jobs at a 4.4 percent rate in 2009, the single worst year since data collection began in 1939. In comparison, the employment-based salon and spa industry added jobs at a 0.2 percent rate in 2009, marking the third consecutive year in which the salon industry outperformed the national economy.
In addition, the long-term outlook for job prospects in the salon and spa industry is extremely positive, based on newly released projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). According to the BLS projections, the number of personal appearance jobs at employment-based establishments will jump 31 percent between 2008 and 2018 and nearly triple the growth in total U.S. employment during the same period.
Among the personal appearance occupations, BLS expects the number of skin care specialists to grow by more than 50 percent between 2008 and 2018, while the number of hairdresser, hairstylist and cosmetologist positions at employment-based establishments is expected to grow by 31 percent! Projected Job Growth by Occupation, 2008 - 2018.
