Identifying industries with high growth potential is crucial for job seekers and professionals looking for career advancements. As we are nearing the start of 2024, several industries stand out with promising trajectories for hiring and professional development.
Understanding these sectors and their anticipated growth can provide valuable insights for those navigating their career paths. Let’s delve into an exploration of the industries that are projected to experience substantial hiring surges based on Bureau of Labor Statistics ’ (BLS).
Healthcare
The healthcare industry consists of a wide list of professions dedicated to the well-being and care of individuals. These are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, medical researchers, healthcare administration, and therapists, including medical professionals that handle their own practice .
As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) recent press release , the healthcare industry appears to be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) sectors to have an increase in new jobs between 2022-2032 – at 45%.
Some of the specific positions to have the most significant increase are personal care aides, nurse practitioners, and medical & health services managers:
“The health care and social assistance sector is projected to not only grow most rapidly of any sector, but it is also projected to create about 45 percent of all the projected job gains from 2022 to 2032. Various healthcare occupations that are involved with the increased care of the aging population are projected to experience large and rapid employment increases. Home health and personal care aides, nurse practitioners, and medical and health services managers are three occupations that are projected to experience both large increases in employment and rapid growth.”
– Bureau of Labor Statistics
Transportation and Warehousing
The transportation industry involves the movement of goods and people from one place to another. This sector encompasses various modes of transportation, including air, road, rail, sea, and even pipeline systems.
As the whole world witnessed the boom of almost every online business, the increase of the number of e-commerce stores after a few years is not a surprise. It is projected to add around 570,000 new jobs, and make a 0.8 percent annual growth from 2022 to 2032. And its direct recipient is the transportation and warehousing/storage industry.
Some specific occupations that will be seeing this increase are shipping, couriers and messengers industry and the warehousing and storage industry.
“Growth in e-commerce is expected to drive employment growth in the transportation and warehousing sector. BLS projects this sector to grow 0.8 percent annually from 2022 to 2032, adding close to 570,000 jobs over that period. The couriers and messengers industry together with the warehousing and storage industry account for about 80 percent of this sector’s projected job growth.”
– Bureau of Labor Statistics
Data Scientists and Analysts
Data scientists and statisticians analyze and interpret complex sets of data to derive insights and aid in decision-making. Jobs in this field include data analysts, machine learning engineers, statisticians, and data architects. These professionals work across industries, analyzing data to extract meaningful information and forecast trends.
Because of the online breakthrough that happened during the pandemic, more businesses shifted towards expanding their digital presence in order to reach more customers. This led to an increase of data being generated as you read this article.
According to BLS, the ongoing data generation would cause a 20% increase in jobs in the data/information industries. Jobs such as data scientists, statisticians, and operations research analysts who are experts in modelling, interpreting, and analyzing business data will be the benefactors.
“The expanding digital presence of businesses and consumers alike is expected to result in a significant increase in the volume of data generated. Employment of data scientists, statisticians, actuaries, and operations research analysts are each projected to grow more than 20.0 percent as demand surges for workers who can model, interpret, and analyze the ever-growing amount of data.”
– Bureau of Labor Statistics
Professional and business services
The Professional and Business Services sector comprises a diverse range of industries that offer specialized services to businesses, individuals, and other organizations. It encompasses a wide spectrum of professions, providing support, expertise, and guidance across various business functions, such as Management Consultants, Legal Services, Financial Analysts and Advisors and more.
The BLS projects that the professional and business service industry will have an 0.6 compounding annual growth from 2022-2032, which is a 6.1 increase in employment.
Finance Industry
The finance industry manages monetary transactions and financial technologies. Some examples of roles in this industry are financial analysts, investment bankers, fintech app developers, risk managers, and financial consultants. These professionals work in areas such as banking, investment, insurance, and technology, focusing on managing and optimizing financial systems.
There is an 8% expected growth in the finance industry from 2022 to 2032, this assumption would tally around 27,400 job openings for financial analysts each year.
“Overall employment of financial analysts is projected to grow 8 percent from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations. About 27,400 openings for financial analysts are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.”
The anticipated high-demand sectors for 2024 present an array of exciting opportunities for individuals seeking career transitions, advancement, or even those embarking on their professional journeys. By keeping a pulse on these burgeoning industries, individuals can strategically position themselves for success and growth in the ever-changing world of work.