New workforce loading: 2021’s fastest growing jobs

The Covid- 19 pandemic has influenced at a great extent the labor market. Many employees lost their jobs, while some others had to get used to a different way of working. Many businesses went through hard times and were forced to cut job positions. As we try to get back to normal we have to admit that labor market will maintain most of the changes that occurred during the last months.

E-commerce saw a significant rise. Many retailers had to hire new employees in order to handle the online purchases and please the customers. New hirings for such kind of positions increased almost 70% in 2020 compared to a year ago. Also, the demand in the labor market for this kind of employees continues to be high. It is a tendency that came to stay as it seems. New York City and Washington DC are among the cities that companies are hiring this period employees in order to handle the online purchases.

According to US Department Bureau of Labor Statistics, retail trade added 121,000 jobs in December 2020, with nearly half of the growth occurring in the component of general merchandise stores that includes warehouse clubs and supercenters (+59,000). Job gains also occurred in nonstore retailers (+14,000), automobile dealers (+13,000), health and personal care stores (+10,000), and food and beverage stores (+8,000).

At the same time wholesale trade employment rose by 25,000 in December 2020 but is down by 251,000 since February. In December 2020, job gains occurred in durable goods (+11,000) and nondurable goods (+11,000).

Another category of employees who are really occupied this period of time are the loan experts. Many companies sought financing solutions due to the launch of new programs on favorable terms. It is worth mentioning that hiring for these kind of jobs in 2020 increased more than 50% compared to 2019. Also, loan officer jobs offer flexibility as many employees in such positions can work remotely. Us cities like New York and Chicago offer vacancies for loan officers.

Doctors and nurses were on the front lines in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, however, the need for people to support health professionals has increased. These positions include people who help patients through the health care system, keep data for doctors etc. Since 2019, recruitment for these positions has increased by more than 30%. Boston is one of the US cities where such job positions are in great demand.

The data from the US Department Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that in December 2020, health care added 39,000 jobs. Employment growth in hospitals (+32,000) and ambulatory health care services (+21,000) was partially offset by declines in nursing care facilities (-6,000) and community care facilities for the elderly (-5,000).

In 2020 were in high demand job positions related to sales professionals. This trend will remain in 2021. Companies tend to hire sales consultants, sales operations assistants, inbound sales specialists and strategic advisors. New York City has plenty of such vacancies.

Diversity was a topic that made us think deepest about our society in 2020. Mainly, after the tragic incident of police violence against George Floyd. Companies started making an effort to boost the diversity among their employees. So the need for diversity managers and officers increased almost 90% in 2020 compared to 2019. San Francisco saw a significant demand for the above role positions.

Except from the above, there is also a great demand for software experts, project managers, data analyzing positions, digital marketing experts and product management positions.

Lastly, not to forget to mention that employment in transportation and warehousing rose by 47,000 jobs in December 2020, largely in couriers and messengers (+37,000). While employment in transportation and warehousing overall is 89,000 lower than in February, employment in couriers and messengers has increased by 222,000 over the same period.