Job growth and your career path: What you need to know

Aligning your career path with industry job growth trends is key to long-term success.

While the job market has improved significantly over the past few years, there are still millions of unemployed people in the country. If you’re one of them, don’t lose hope: there are jobs out there and your chances of getting hired greatly improve if you know what you want to do with your career and which skills and qualifications you need to land those positions in industries that are hiring right now.

Does this come as a surprise?

By 2030, 40% of American jobs will require some form of higher education. It’s safe to say that new technologies—particularly in fields like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, and data science—are going to continue changing how we work. That means creating a successful future for yourself will be as much about managing change as finding what you love doing. The good news is that with a few steps toward creating an actionable strategy for your career in mind (see below), there’s no limit to where your earning potential can go. Here are three more pieces of advice on how best to position yourself for success in today’s economy. 1. Get comfortable with uncertainty: If you don’t have a clear idea of what kind of job or field you want to pursue, that doesn’t mean it isn't out there waiting for you. According to LinkedIn's 2017 U.S. Emerging Jobs Report , one in five workers has yet to find their ideal job —but they're actively looking and open-minded enough to consider all sorts of opportunities along their journey. The key is staying flexible enough to recognize when it comes along, while also pursuing opportunities that might not feel right at first but could lead somewhere great down the road if given time and effort.

Important trends in demand for human capital

In recent years, there has been an upsurge in demand for jobs requiring higher levels of skill. While manual laborers have been losing ground, both blue-collar and white-collar workers who possess more specialized skills are commanding higher salaries. The IESO indicates that in Canada, occupations requiring high levels of creativity, problem solving or communication are seeing particularly rapid job growth. For example, their study predicts that personal financial advisers will grow by 29% between 2010 and 2020; systems analysts by 25% over that period; health service managers by 23%; biologists by 21%. If you’re looking to get ahead in a creative field like finance or engineering—or if you’re considering a career change—keep an eye on these fields. They represent some of today’s most dynamic opportunities. The good news is that when it comes to job security, working with your brain pays off big time. When times are tough, employers tend to keep staff they trust—those who know what they’re doing and aren’t likely to take risks (like jumping ship). Employees whose jobs require analytical thinking also tend to be less vulnerable because their knowledge base makes them more valuable than employees with fewer skills. Also important is where you fit into your company's structure: In tough times, employees at lower levels can be cut first; top executives tend to stay put no matter what happens because they're considered irreplaceable.

Opportunities for HR leaders in 2026

How many HR managers will there be in 2030? There are two ways to answer that question. You can count them or figure out how many new jobs will be created. This month's cover story, It’s a people business, gives a high-level look at what job growth will mean for HR leaders in 2026 and beyond. But we also wanted to get more granular, so we dug into more specific industries and asked one of our industry sources what they expect their company's demand for human capital management (HCM) staff to be over time (and he gave us some pretty compelling data). The result is below! We hope it helps you think about your own future and how it might play out in different industries. We'd love to hear from you as well—what do you think? Let us know via comments and our email at onwuegbusiogechukwu2310@gmail.com. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 12 percent growth in employment among all occupations between 2020 and 2030, with 4 percent of those new jobs going to workers who manage human resources activities.

Why these opportunities exist

For most of history, jobs have been scarce. In many places, they still are—which means it’s not only a good idea to improve your skills through education but also a good idea to build an emergency source of income that can be accessed during periods when you’re out of work. When people think about careers today, there's often a sense that something big is happening; for example, you might hear about how robot automation is taking over fast food jobs or how artificial intelligence is poised to change everything about what we do at work in 20 years. But there are plenty of reasons not to panic—and even fewer reasons for workers to despair. Yes, some jobs will go away, but new ones will appear. And if you want to stay relevant in your industry and make sure you’re one of those who has access to them, then here are three things you should know: 

1) Job growth isn't slowing down anytime soon. The U.S. economy added 2 million new jobs last year alone—the largest increase since 1999—and a recent report from Glassdoor Economic Research predicts that job openings will grow by 25 percent between now and 2030 (or roughly 8 million more positions). That’s great news if you're looking for work right now (or planning on being so within the next few years), as long as you're able to adapt with changing conditions on-the-fly. 

2) It's easier than ever to learn new skills and re-skill yourself. Many companies offer tuition reimbursement programs for employees, meaning you could potentially earn a degree without paying anything upfront. And online courses are becoming increasingly popular among working professionals, too—not just college students trying to save money. There’s no better time than now to start thinking about ways to position yourself for future opportunities, whether that means learning a completely new skill or just brushing up on what you already know. 

3) You don't have to choose between pursuing personal passions and professional success.

How to best prepare yourself professionally

To best prepare yourself professionally, take a look at your current skill set. Are there skills that would help you be more competitive in a certain field? If so, what are they? Are you lacking technical skills required for specific careers that could use those same skills? Can you afford to hire someone to get those skills or can you find some way of learning them yourself (even if it’s through online courses or free resources) so that down the road, it’s easier for potential employers to see how valuable those skills could be? There’s an adage that knowledge is power. Keeping up with industry trends and always being willing to learn will put you in better position for both job stability and professional advancement. You don’t have to go back to school for an advanced degree – sometimes just reading about trends or topics related to your profession is enough. The important thing is keeping yourself informed about everything happening in your chosen industry, as well as things that might affect it. This way you can anticipate changes before they happen and better position yourself accordingly. It's also worth noting here that many industries now require social media literacy as part of their training programs; even if you're not currently using social media platforms professionally, getting comfortable using them early on will make networking later much easier since most recruiters spend time on LinkedIn looking at prospective employees' profiles – especially if those individuals come recommended by someone who knows them personally.