The year 2020 saw doors slamming shut on a lot of dreams. There were many small businesses closing due to the pandemic, and many jobs lost as a result. So what’s happening this year?
In the U.S. there have been some interesting developments in job opportunities. Some are in businesses where executive recruitment may be needed to find those skilled enough to take the positions.
Biggest Need
The need for nurses has never been higher. In fact, there are some who have left the industry, leaving gaps that could be filled now if the workforce were there to do it. Some of America’s largest cities, including LA, NYC, and Philadelphia, are driving the demand.
There’s also a demand for health-care supporting staff. This includes a wide variety of positions from intake specialist to pharmacy tech. Again, the big cities, such as Boston, NYC, and Chicago, are the places where these positions are in demand.
Best Remote Work
The unexpected boom in home sales has accelerated the pace of hiring of loan and mortgage officers. The demand is high in big Southern cities such as Dallas as well as the northern metro areas of NYC and Chicago. Unlike most jobs on this list, this job can be done remotely.
Largest Increase
While this isn’t the biggest field, it is the fastest growing. Diversity trainers are in high demand with a jump of 90 percent in two years. Obviously the demand is driven by the desire of business and government to be seen as proactive both in racial issues and gender issues.
Pandemic-related Increase
While the jobs aren’t necessarily well paid, there has been a huge jump in the personal shopper job market. It has grown by 73 percent compared to 2019. You will hear these people given fancy titles like fulfillment specialists or more down to earth terms like delivery drivers.
Tech-Driven Marketplace
The marketplace has never been driven by tech at the rate that it has been since the pandemic. Social media managers, digital content managers, and SEO specialists have been working overtime to help businesses cope with the challenges caused by shuttered storefronts and remote workforces. Podcasters and Youtubers have also been on the rise.
Executive recruiters have seen a big demand for artificial intelligence engineers. Companies are looking for the people who can help them integrate the coming wave of AI and other new technologies. Data analysts is another job area where growth is nearly 50 percent over 2019.
More Job Growth
There’s also greater demand for the software engineering experts. These may be game developers or other specialized engineers who can bring products from conception all the way to the market. Likewise, user experience professionals are seeing their star on the rise with an increase of 20 percent in the last year. Education professionals, career coordinators and business coaches are in demand.
Certainly the job market is shifting due to the pandemic and the forces of fast-changing technology. However this job growth offers hope to a range of workers that there may be opportunities ahead.
