The unemployment numbers may be dismal, but there are still jobs to be had. In fact, if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that companies that pivoted to provide essential services (and not just in healthcare or retail—although those are important) have created hundreds of jobs.
An analysis of more than 15,000 job titles by LinkedIn reveals 15 “Jobs on the Rise.” These career categories exhibited the highest growth rates in hiring between April and October 2020 based on LinkedIn’s Economic Graph data.
The top five categories held a few surprises:
- Professionals on the front lines of e-commerce
- Loan and mortgage experts
- Healthcare support staff
- Business development and sales professionals
- Experts in workplace diversity
While deliveries of groceries, restaurant meals, and anything else you could snag online proliferated during quarantine, the need for drivers and package handlers, personal shoppers, and supply-chain managers grew. Many don’t require a college degree, although more than 70{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} have an associate degree or higher. There are more than 400,000 openings right now.
Likewise, the demand for business development and sales professionals increased as companies navigated the economic fallout of the pandemic and looked for those with skills in customer retention, sales processes, and team building. That category experienced a 45{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} lift.
Alongside this rise of retail, loan experts were in demand this year thanks to Paycheck Protection Program loans and historically low-interest rates.
The protests after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others ignited a wave of companies actively seeking to diversify and commit to becoming anti-racist. Hiring for all levels of diversity, equity, and inclusion professionals increased more than 90{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} over this last year.
Digital content creators, professional and personal coaches, and user experience professionals were also among the top 15 career categories on the rise. You can see the whole list here as well as education requirements and median salaries for each.
