As we leave 2019 behind and push forward into 2020 and a brand-new decade, it’s time to talk about where experts believe the fastest job growth will occur. What jobs will offer workers the most opportunities, better job security, and maybe even an exciting future?
Read on for a look at some of the careers and jobs that experts believe will grow the fastest throughout this next decade—and perhaps where you might have the best opportunity to shine. Whether you’re just getting into the job market or you’re looking for a change, there could be a perfect job to take you into the next decade of your life.
Artificial Intelligence Specialist
It should come as no surprise that with the increase in automation throughout our society, jobs in artificial intelligence are poised to be some of the fastest-growing jobs of the next decade. Professional networking site LinkedIn noted that the artificial intelligence specialist career experienced the greatest amount of growth in the past five years. In fact, since 2015, this particular job has seen hiring growth of nearly 74 percent each year.
Most artificial intelligence jobs can be found in tech industries, but artificial intelligence specialists are also popping up in higher education. This could be due to a so-called “tech shortage,” prompting schools to search for experts to teach AI skills to students.
The average pay for an artificial intelligence specialist sits around $136,000 annually, while most job openings are likely to be found in large urban areas, including cities like New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
Nursing Careers and Behavioral Health
In spite of the concerns over high costs and accessibility in the healthcare industry, nursing careers remain in high demand. There are a variety of options for those looking to get into this industry.
Registered nurses, nurse aides, and nurse practitioners would all be wonderful jobs for anyone looking to get into a field where they can help people. The changes in the digital health arena will also likely spell changes for these roles as well; for instance, nurses will need to become more familiar with digital heath options as they become a more integral part of our healthcare industry. By 2024, we will likely see nearly 500,000 more nurses enter the workforce. The overall increase in these types of nursing jobs will likely be between 16 percent and 18 percent.
As insurance continues to add more options for mental health coverage, the demand for professionals in this field will continue to grow. Behavioral health technicians specializing in the treatment of patients that have autism or other behavioral disorders often enter schools to work with children with these conditions. There is not a specific degree that needs to be obtained in order to work in this field, which opens it up to more different types of professionals. Necessary skills for a behavioral health technician range from experience analyzing behavior to working with autism spectrum disorders to understanding general behavioral and mental health issues.
Engineering
Now is a great time to be an engineer. There are several different types of engineers that have made LinkedIn’s Emerging Jobs list for 2020, including robotics engineers, data engineers, and site stability engineers.
Robotics, in particular, is an extremely fast-growing arena, and robotics engineers will likely continue to be in high demand in the next decade. These types of engineering jobs range widely, from software engineers to those working with data and robotics.
Customer Success Specialist and Sales Development Representatives
If you are more interested in working with people and helping solve problems, you might find a career in sales or customer success to be more your speed. Soft skills are a growing area of weakness for a lot of potential employees, so if you’ve got great interpersonal skills, you’ll be a wonderful fit for many of these jobs in sales and customer service. Lots of companies are looking for a combination of soft and hard skills, where you can both understand your company’s technology or products and engage with customers and make them happy. This is particularly important in the customer success specialist and sales development representative roles—these individuals work both the technical and the personal side of their companies.
In the coming age of automation, these soft skills are becoming more and more important to companies. If you have them, you’ll be an in-demand employee over the next decade. People skills are something robots just don’t have, and that’s where you’ll come in! Keep working on your leadership skills, collaborative skills, and other important soft skills. Those abilities will soon become invaluable.