The Most In-Demand Jobs in an Uncertain Economy

The Most In-Demand Jobs in an Uncertain Economy was originally published on Forage.

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In a volatile economy, it pays to have a job that’s in high demand.

The February jobs report showed that unemployment remains low despite recent interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. However, whether that trend will continue remains to be seen, given recent bank collapses and the threat of more interest rate increases to contain inflation.

In this study, we examined employment and job openings trends using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to find the most in-demand roles for long-term job security — even in a tough economy.

Key Findings

The fastest-growing jobs with the highest employment are in health care, finance, tech, and the service industry.
Of these jobs, the highest-paying are mostly tech and finance roles that require specialized skills and a bachelor’s or more advanced degree.
The highest paying of the in-demand tech roles are computer and information systems managers, software developers, and information security analysts.
The most in-demand jobs with the highest satisfaction rate are animal caretakers, hairdressers, and exercise trainers.
Of the most in-demand jobs that don’t require a college degree, the fastest growing are mostly in the service industry, such as bartenders, restaurant cooks, and supervisors of food preparation workers.

In this article, we further explore:

The Most In-Demand Jobs
The Most In-Demand High-Paying Jobs
The Most In-Demand Jobs With the Highest Satisfaction Rate
The Most In-Demand Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree
How to Use Forage to Land an In-Demand Job

The Most In-Demand Jobs

BLS maintains a database of over 800 jobs in its Occupation Finder. We consulted its Employment Projections database to find the projected growth rate and projected number of new positions between 2021 and 2031 in each occupation.

Then, we filtered for jobs projected to have a much faster than average growth rate (defined at 10.5% or above) and to add 50,000 or more new jobs between 2021 and 2031. We ended up with a list of 27 in-demand professions.

The most in-demand jobs — defined as the jobs with the highest employment in 2021 that are projected to grow the most by 2031 — are a mix of high-paying health care, tech, and finance jobs, as well as lower-paying service jobs:

Occupation Employment 2021 Employment 2021 (thousands) Median Annual Wage 2021 Projected Growth Rate Job Dissatisfaction Score Entry-Level Education Projected Number of New Jobs

Home health and personal care aides
3,636,900
3,636.90
29,430
25.40
None
High school diploma or equivalent
50,000 or more

Software developers
1,425,900
1,425.90
120,730
26.00
1.96875
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Cooks, restaurant
1,255,600
1,255.60
30,010
36.60
None
No formal educational credential
50,000 or more

First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers
1,093,100
1,093.10
36,570
13.30
1.66666666667
High school diploma or equivalent
50,000 or more

Management analysts
950,600
950.60
93,000
11.40
1.51020408163
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Market research analysts and marketing specialists
792,500
792.50
63,920
19.00
None
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Medical assistants
743,500
743.50
37,190
15.80
1.64444444444
Postsecondary nondegree award
50,000 or more

Financial managers
730,800
730.80
131,710
16.80
1.81132075472
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists
558,700
558.70
29,670
10.90
1.45454545455
Postsecondary nondegree award
50,000 or more

Driver/sales workers
531,000
531.00
29,280
12.00
None
High school diploma or equivalent
50,000 or more

Bartenders
514,000
514.00
26,350
17.90
None
No formal educational credential
50,000 or more

Computer and information systems managers
509,100
509.10
159,010
16.20
1.63333333333
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Preschool teachers, except special education
483,100
483.10
30,210
15.10
None
Associate’s degree
50,000 or more

Medical and health services managers
480,700
480.70
101,340
28.30
1.58974358974
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Social and human service assistants
420,600
420.60
37,610
12.50
None
High school diploma or equivalent
50,000 or more

Industrial machinery mechanics
384,800
384.80
59,840
16.40
None
High school diploma or equivalent
50,000 or more

Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers
355,200
355.20
27,170
16.90
None
No formal educational credential
50,000 or more

Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors
351,000
351.00
48,520
22.10
None
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop
347,700
347.70
24,600
15.10
None
No formal educational credential
50,000 or more

Self-enrichment teachers
347,100
347.10
43,580
17.60
None
High school diploma or equivalent
50,000 or more

Personal financial advisors
330,300
330.30
94,170
15.40
1.5
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors
306,400
306.40
40,700
18.90
1.46666666667
High school diploma or equivalent
50,000 or more

Animal caretakers
290,700
290.70
28,600
29.90
1.45454545455
High school diploma or equivalent
50,000 or more

Nurse practitioners
246,700
246.70
120,680
45.70
None
Master’s degree
50,000 or more

Health specialties teachers, postsecondary
246,700
246.70
102,720
24.10
None
Doctoral or professional degree
50,000 or more

Logisticians
195,000
195.00
77,030
27.70
None
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

Information security analysts
163,000
163.00
102,600
34.70
None
Bachelor’s degree
50,000 or more

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The Most In-Demand High-Paying Jobs

To identify the most in-demand jobs with the most earning potential, we reordered our original list of 27 occupations according to BLS wage data. These five professions emerged as the most financially lucrative:

Computer and information systems managers: Median annual wage of $159,010
Financial managers: Median annual wage of $131,710
Software developers: Median annual wage of $120,730
Nurse practitioners: Median annual wage of $120,680
Post-secondary health specialties teachers: Median annual wage of $102,720

For reference, the U.S. median annual earnings was $53,888 in 2021, according to Census Bureau data.

>>MORE: See the highest-paying jobs in the U.S.

The Most In-Demand Jobs With the Highest Satisfaction Rate

Of course, earning potential is just one way to determine whether a job is rewarding. For a different vantage point, we applied job satisfaction data from the BLS 2018 National Longitudinal Survey to our initial ranking.

The survey asked respondents to rate their job dissatisfaction on a scale from one to four, with one defined as “like it very much” and four defined as “dislike it very much.” We averaged answers for each job across respondents. The following professions rate as the most in-demand jobs with the lowest employee dissatisfaction rate:

Animal caretakers: 1.45 job dissatisfaction
Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists: 1.45 job dissatisfaction
Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors: 1.47 job dissatisfaction
Personal financial advisers: 1.50 job dissatisfaction
Management analysts: 1.51 job dissatisfaction

Of jobs on our initial list that had enough survey responses for an average job dissatisfaction score, these positions had the highest job dissatisfaction, ranked in order from most dissatisfaction to least:

Software developers: 1.97 job dissatisfaction
Financial managers: 1.81 job dissatisfaction
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers: 1.67 job dissatisfaction
Medical assistants: 1.64 job dissatisfaction
Computer and information systems managers: 1.63 job dissatisfaction

The average job dissatisfaction score across all respondents in the survey was 1.69. Note: Not every job had a reported job dissatisfaction score from the 2018 survey. We filtered out job dissatisfaction scores where fewer than ten survey respondents gave a rating.

The Most In-Demand Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree

Finally, we referenced the entry-level education requirements from BLS’s Occupation Finder to identify the most in-demand jobs that don’t require a college degree. Here are the highest-paying:

Industrial machinery mechanics: Median annual wage of $59,840
Self-enrichment teachers: Median annual wage of $43,580
Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors: Median annual wage of $40,700
Social and human service assistants: Median annual wage of $37,610
Medical assistants: Median annual wage of $37,190

>>MORE: 15 Surprising Jobs You Can Get Without a College Degree

Will a Tough Labor Market Impact the Most In-Demand Jobs?

While the BLS projections cover eight years or so, layoffs, particularly in the tech industry, have recently generated headlines.

Sam Kuhn, economic data analyst at Appcast, attributes tech companies’ short-term restructuring in part to the effect of interest rate increases on tech company valuations.

But “while the current job market for tech jobs may seem gloomy, I would focus on long vs. short trends in the labor market and try to make a more data-driven choice about your future career,” says Kuhn.

For instance, despite layoffs, the information industry has gained 435,000 jobs since April 2020, Kuhn notes.

“The long term trend is that labor demand for tech skills like programming, math, and statistics will only grow,” he adds. “The current job market may seem tumultuous, but the long-term outcomes for many of these careers seem promising.”

How to Get an In-Demand Job in a Tough Market

Students searching for jobs in tech should consider broadening their search beyond employers like Google and Meta. Smaller companies are still interested in hiring top tech talent, Kuhn says.

You can also consider working in a technical role at a non-tech company.

“Whether you go into the tech industry is not as important as the need to invest in tech skills, which are going to be more widely used across all industries,” says Liz Wilke, principal economist at Gusto.

Graduating students looking to work in tech should network to make connections at the companies where they’d like to work, she advises. Also, post projects on Github to showcase your skills to potential employers, Wilke says.

Take classes on machine learning and AI, core programming languages, and newer languages while in school, says Chris Murdock, co-founder and chief sourcing officer at IQTalent.

“Once you’re employed, always stay up to date on the new languages and trends,” he says.

Furthering your studies could bolster your chances in the labor market, given many in-demand roles require a bachelor’s or advanced degree. However, nothing is guaranteed, Kuhn says.

“Think deeply about [your] set of skills and how those match against a future career,” Kuhn says. “If you are interested in pursuing a career in data science for example, a master’s or [doctorate] is helpful, but it’s not required.”

Online learning opportunities can be a way to gain new skills without taking on debt.

You can also pursue freelance work to boost your personal portfolio and secure a full-time role, Wilke says.

Finding the Right Job for You

Labor market trends can help you assess the level of job security that different careers could afford, but they’re just one data point among many when choosing a career.

“While forecasts can be valuable, the choice of one’s career is highly personal and is the result of hard work and determination,” says Kuhn. “Ultimately making a decision is not just about the labor market, but about striving to achieve personal goals that match a career.”

If you’re not interested in a fast-growing, in-demand industry, “look to [invest] in cross-industry skills that will allow [you] to specialize in a function (marketer, programmer, communications/PR, etc.) rather than an industry,” Wilke says.

Building transferable job skills can also help you change industries if you desire or the macroenvironment changes.

How to Use Forage to Land an In-Demand Job

An increasing number of college students are majoring in business, health, and computer science fields, as we explored in a previous study. These majors align with the fields of some of the most in-demand jobs, like software developers, management analysts, medical assistants, financial managers, medical and health services managers, and nurse practitioners.

Forage’s free job simulations are one way to supplement your studies with real-world experience and practice skills required for in-demand jobs. Here is a selection of Forage job simulations relevant to some of the highest-paying, most in-demand jobs.

Computer and Information Systems Manager

Job description: Computer and information systems managers plan, coordinate, and direct computer-related activities in an organization.
Median annual wage: $159,010
Skills required: Project management, IT infrastructure management, network administration, computer programming
Forage programs: Cognizant Agile Methodology, JPMorgan Chase Agile

working at Accenture

Accenture Project Management

Learn the benefits of and practice various project management methodologies with this free job simulation from Accenture.

The Most In-Demand Jobs in an Uncertain Economy

Key Findings

The Most In-Demand Jobs

The Most In-Demand High-Paying Jobs

The Most In-Demand Jobs With the Highest Satisfaction Rate

The Most In-Demand Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree

Will a Tough Labor Market Impact the Most In-Demand Jobs?

How to Get an In-Demand Job in a Tough Market

Finding the Right Job for You

How to Use Forage to Land an In-Demand Job

Computer and Information Systems Manager

Accenture Project Management

Financial Manager

KPMG Career Catalyst: Tax

Software Developer

Cisco Introduction to Software Engineering

Information Security Analyst

AIG Cybersecurity

Medical and Health Services Manager

Pfizer Molecule to Market

Personal Financial Adviser

JPMorgan Investment Banking

Management Analyst

BCG Strategy Consulting

Market Research Analyst

Lululemon Omnichannel Marketing