5 hottest jobs: Most didn’t exist 20 years ago
It’s not just you: The job market is getting more competitive.
Despite the Federal Reserve and Biden administration lauding the strength of the economy, many workers continue to feel gloomy and find it increasingly difficult to navigate the job market. This “great mismatch” has many people wondering how the job market could be tight even as hiring continues at a high pace.
The reality is that the economy is still in a state of flux — still recovering from the pandemic, high inflation, and a rapid increase in interest rates. At the same time, some data shows that the labor market is tightening up, and that this year it may get even tighter. In fact, a new report from LinkedIn shows that many as 85% of workers are considering looking for a new job, a 27% increase over last year, which means that competition could be fierce for open positions.
Not only that, “job search intensity” on LinkedIn’s platform — which measures the number of people actively applying to jobs — is up 16%, according to Andrew Seaman, senior managing editor for jobs and career development LinkedIn News.
“What we’ve seen consistently over the past couple of years is more consistent declines in hiring,” says Seaman. But interestingly enough, Seaman says that “the slowdown has slowed” in recent months, and that “we’re seeing stabilization in the labor market, and we’re seeing companies come back to the hiring table.”
But, he warns, “they’re being cautious,” and taking their time when onboarding new workers. The good news, though, is that companies are still hiring, and despite recent layoffs in some sectors, the bottom doesn’t appear primed to fall out of the labor market, leading to a big increase in unemployment.
So for workers, 2024 brings a more competitive job market, but one that’s still very much active.
LinkedIn’s report also names the top “Jobs on the Rise” for 2024, a list of the fastest-growing jobs in the United States. Here are the top five:
Chief growth officer.
Government program analyst. Environment health safety manager. Director of revenue operations.
Sustainability analyst.
Notably, four of those five jobs didn’t exist 20 years ago, which may serve as a message to workers that the labor market is in a constant state of flux, and that they should always be ready to make a move.
And as the labor market likely continues to tighten in 2024, even if expectations of a full-blown recession fade, workers should anticipate that things are going to change — and be ready to hit the ground running.
“You need to be really nimble in your career,” advises Seaman.
“Today you may not be a job seeker, but tomorrow you might be.”