Post-pandemic job outlook: What you should know about the 5 fastest-growing careers

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:

• Job growth is projected to be weaker between 2020 and 2030, with the majority of new jobs replacing those lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• As of writing this in 2022, about a third of almost 12 million new jobs in that same time frame will be low wage, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics (BLS).
• 88% of executives are seeing higher turnover than normal among their employees, according to a PwC survey.
• The country’s labor force is projected to atrophy as the workforce ages, people retire and fewer young people gain employment, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

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.

What's the forecast for the 5 fastest-growing occupations?

What are the 5 fastest-growing careers that require a bachelor's degree?

Beyond the job: 6 post-pandemic trends to expect

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.

1. It’s a remote world. We just click in it. The work-from-home movement is no longer a movement but a way of life. This is good news for any worker who’s not a millennial or GenZ, generations that tend to equate their social life with their work life and prefer, apparently, having one.
2. No one likes virtual meetings. While there are ways to make the virtual experience more palatable, the general consensus seems to be that the best way to counteract screen fatigue is to stay offline when the workday is done.
3. The layoffs aren’t over. Companies big and little are looking to cut down on expenses, and the jobs aren’t coming back as fast as you might think. (That might also translate to more closures among restaurants, retailers and small businesses.)
4. Changing careers can be good (and sometimes necessary). Learning new skills, going to graduate school or simply finishing college will become more common as people get used to changing course. (Or, to borrow that dreaded word of the pandemic, “pivot.”)
5. Interviews feel more like trials. Remember when you could get a job after two rounds of interviews? That was 20 years ago. These days, Forbes notes, three to eight interviews are the norm.
6. Boomers are checking out. Whether they got pushed into retirement or chose it of their own volition, 2 million more Boomers left the workplace in the third quarter of 2020. This is a trend, Forbes says, not an exception. It also has consequences. According to a recent report by ProQuest (which was reported on by The Wall Street Journal), “Healthcare, engineering and IT struggle to replace senior management as millions of Baby Boomers retire. Meanwhile, retail and hospitality, who rely on younger workers, are desperate for employees.”

How to prepare for change

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:

• Skills-aligned degree programs that show students exactly what they’re learning so that they can apply it in real-time and in their future careers
• Professional development courses in digital marketing, healthcare, education and IT
• Online certificate programs for continued education
• Career Services for Life® (for both students and alumni) to navigate a constantly evolving job market

Additional career resources

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.