If post-pandemic times have you nostalgic for the simplicity of planning a holiday or even just a happy hour, spare a thought for the pre-pandemic economy. Oh, 2019, you era of reasonable inflation and booming jobs!
These days, the employment situation is decidedly more complicated. “Unemployment is down to a 16-month low, hourly wages have slightly increased and job growth is trending upward … but I don’t think Americans are out of the woods yet,” says Steven Starks, senior manager of career advising programs and operations at University of Phoenix.
Starks describes his attitude to the post-pandemic job outlook as “cautiously optimistic.” On the one hand, the world is opening up, remote work is a viable opportunity for more job seekers and roles are abundant.
On the other hand, well:
So, where does optimism come into play among these statistics? As in the stock market, where there is uncertainty in the job outlook, there is also opportunity.
According to BLS, here’s where the highest-projected growth and demand between 2020-2030 will be:
Occupation | Growth rate |
---|---|
Motion picture projectionist
|
70%
|
Wind turbine service technician
|
68%
|
Ushers, lobby attendants and ticket takers
|
62%
|
Nurse practitioners
|
52%
|
Solar photovoltaic installers
|
52%
|
|
It is a somewhat deflating outlook, and it echoes what Bloomberg Businessweek reported: “About one-third of the jobs created, or 3.9 million compared with the current baseline, will be in low-wage work — a part of the economy devastated by coronavirus-linked restrictions. That covers categories that pay less than $32,000 a year, or roughly $15 an hour.”
But LinkedIn® offers a slightly different perspective. By examining current job data (including the roles with the highest year-over-year growth between April and October 2020), it identified 15 different “Jobs on the Rise” in multiple sectors. The 15 are:
Starks’ own experience with employment trends supports both BLS’ and LinkedIn’s projections. He’s seen growth, for example, in the leisure and hospitality industry as well as transportation and warehousing, food services, financial services and healthcare.
The gap between what BLS projects and what LinkedIn or Starks observes can be chalked up to the kind of data examined.
Starks explains: “The BLS data does not account for the pandemic because [its] employment projections are intended to capture structural changes in the economy whereas job-posting data from LinkedIn may be better suited for capturing cyclical fluctuations in the economy.”
If BLS first found its metrics unequal to the task of distinguishing between growth and COVID-19-related growth, it was able to recalibrate. By September 2021, it had developed two other notable lists.
One of these identifies the 10 fastest-growing occupations that exclude pandemic recovery. This list includes most of its original five occupations (wind turbine service technicians, nurse practitioners and solar photovoltaic installers) but also features the following job titles:
It is, however, BLS’ projection of the five fastest-growing occupations (2020 to 2030) that require a bachelor’s degree or higher that perhaps best captures the future of the job market and hiring trends once the COVID-19 pandemic is well and truly over.
These are:
Occupation | Growth |
---|---|
Nurse practitioners
|
52%
|
Agents and business managers for artists, performers and athletes
|
46%
|
Statisticians
|
35%
|
Information security analysts
|
33%
|
Film and video editors
|
33%
|
|
It’s one thing to anticipate which careers will boom in the coming years. It’s another to understand how those careers might evolve.
Consider, for example, your current job. When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, what was your response? How did your job change, not just in terms of where you worked but also how you worked? How did your employer’s expectations shift? How did yours?
As it turns out, COVID-19 has changed not just what we do but how we do it. Here are the latest career predictions for both employers and workers in 2021, as defined by Forbes.
Deciding whether a career or job change is in your future requires some degree of introspection, Starks notes.
“Before you invest time, money and energy into a career change, reflect on what you really want out of your career,” he says. “Your job is so much more than a paycheck. It takes up a significant portion of your life, so you need to think about your interests, values, lifestyle preferences and the type of people and company culture you want to be around.”
For many people, the COVID outbreak precipitated a new awareness around what really matters, and what they really wanted out of their careers. It's no longer enough to do what's expected, earn a wage and go home. Nowadays, people are openly seeking fulfillment from their careers, even if it's in an altogether different sector.
If your next move, be it an industry change or a job change, requires additional education, you’re not alone. According to a recent Harris Poll survey commissioned by University of Phoenix, 92% of adult learners believe higher education is a pathway to success.
But not all education is created equal. According to that same poll, 82% of adult learners think higher education needs to focus more on career support and preparedness, and 81% think schools should focus more on teaching transferrable career skills across professions or industries.
Read the full results of the survey in this press release: Adult learners more likely to enroll at universities that emphasize career preparedness
For many, community colleges (and the universities that actively partner with them) provide this pathway. University of Phoenix, for example, not only accepts eligible transfer credits from community colleges. It also offers the following to prepare its students for the modern workforce, no matter which trends are in play:
In addition to the soul searching necessary for determining the career path that will bring you both fulfillment and a fulfilling paycheck, it’s important to do the research.
Starks recommends reviewing job details, educational requirements and projected growth on the BLS website as well as talking to “at least three people in the career field you’re exploring.”
When it’s time to begin the active search process, use the downloadable resources below, which cover the two pillars of any job search: writing an effective resumé and writing a cover letter.
To all of this, Starks adds one more piece of advice: “Whatever you do, don’t expect a quick and easy path.”
It may involve research, additional education and networking. It may involve looking at the global picture, local demand and how you fit into things. (Or what you need educationally to fit in.)
But, with a little bit of luck and a lot of due diligence, that may just help you weather the next economic storm.
If it’s time to upskill, explore University of Phoenix’s skills-aligned degree programs and professional development courses.
About University of Phoenix
As pioneers in online higher education since 1989, University of Phoenix is an accredited online university for working adults. We are proud to offer quality educational pathways through flexible, career-focused online degrees, certificates and professional development courses that fit into your life and options to save you time and money. Our students are supported every step of the way, including career services for life.
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