In this age of economic and job uncertainty, wouldn’t it be nice to have a crystal ball to forecast your job security and career options? You could buy a Magic 8 Ball and ask it, but you run the risk of the copout answer, “Cannot foretell now.”

A more informative forecast can be found on the Internet, with Future-Jobs-O-Matic. A quick way to gauge the future of most any job in the United States, the program was developed by American Public Media based on data supplied by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. You simply plug in the general field, click another button to narrow down the search, then pick a profession. You’ll get info on the job outlook, some advice on up-and-coming promising niches, along with the median income of folks in that job category. If you want more detailed information and statistics than what Jobs-O-Matic provides, you can click on a link that takes you to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For woodworkers, the news wasn’t good: “Those with general skills may want to get some new training; your jobs may be given to machines.”

To be fair, I also checked the outlook for editors. Future-Jobs-O-Matic says, “Jobs numbers are expected to fall slightly. … The internet could be your best chance.”

Ouch.

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