​Employment of social workers is expected to increase faster than average for all occupations through 2014. 

Social workers work in schools, hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, family service agencies, mental health facilities, prisons, rehabilitation and substance abuse programs, private counseling practices and research, planning and policy making organizations. Social workers work as administrators and policy makers, but many social workers prefer work in positions in which they can interact with clients. For instance, social workers provide more than 50% of the mental health services in the U.S. Social workers may also work with specialized populations such as abused children, people experiencing chronic illness, children or adults experiencing development delays, or the mentally ill, among others. 

Social workers provide a wide variety of services in many settings. Examples include arranging for adoptions, providing individual, group and family therapy, working with runaway adolescents, and planning activity programs for the rehabilitation of delinquents, or to increase skills of parents, the aging or the mentally ill. 

A BSW degree is usually the minumum requirement for a social work position. Social work positions in health settings or for clinical social work positions usually require an MSW.