FORECAST FOR THE US CRM INDUSTRY AND JOB MARKET: 2022-2031

Summary

In the next 10 years the US cultural resources management (CRM) industry will grow in terms of monies spent on CRM activities and the size of the CRM labor force. Between US Fiscal Years 2022 and 2031, annual spending on CRM will increase from about $1.46 to $1.85 billion, due in part to growth in the US economy but also due to an added $1 billion of CRM activities conducted in response to the newly passed infrastructure bill. The increased spending will lead to the creation of about 11,000 new full-time positions in all CRM fields. Archaeologists will be required to fill more than 8,000 positions, and of these, about 70% will require advanced degrees. Based on current graduation rates, there will be a significant MA/PhD-level job deficit. Accordingly, there is a compelling need to: (a) stop the trend to close or decrease the size of current graduate programs; (b) reorient academic programs to give a greater emphasis to the skills needed to be successful in CRM; and (c) better integrate academic and applied archaeology to leverage the vast amount of data that will be generated in the next decade to best benefit the public.

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 2022 to 2031

Individual & Institutional Roles

Principal Investigator(s): Jeffrey Altschul

Notes

Redaction Note: Names of States have been redacted from Excel Speadsheets