The world is changing around us at breakneck speed, transforming work in all kinds of ways — many of which we don’t yet fully grasp. Workplace evolutions spurred by technology even impact those who are creating them. As a 2023 article in Harvard Business Review put it, “The average half-life of skills is now less than five years, and in some tech fields it’s as low as two and a half years.” That speed-of-change existed even before this past year’s growth in Generative AI and its impact on everything from energy consumption to AI/human collaboration.
While some of the news focuses on the pending contraction of existing roles — “Will Self-Driving Cars Replace Uber?” — the old maxim, “change equals opportunity” thankfully still holds true. Big shifts in technology, globalization, automation and population demographics are conspiring to create entirely new fields, and new demand for many existing jobs, making this an exciting time to be working. Bountiful opportunities exist due to growth in areas like AI and space exploration, as well as global aging. Today’s rapid pace of change also means it is more critical than ever to keep current on newly created opportunities. That’s because many of the most interesting career options probably didn’t exist last time you looked for work, or even a few years ago. And this is especially exciting since a recent report from Glassdoor found that nearly two in three professionals polled felt “stuck” in their current roles. What better way to become “unstuck”, or to avoid burnout or malaise than to throw yourself into a totally new challenge?
Fortunately, now is the time to do that.
New jobs are cropping up in all sectors and in firms of all sizes. Three major categories of job growth are climate change/clean energy, healthcare/social services, and technology. Whatever your interests and aptitude, chances are there is a need for your contribution in the workplace of today, and tomorrow. Here’s what to look for:
Help the World (Or Your Corner of It) Reach Net Zero
While climate-change and freak weather occurrences grow ever more alarming, working to mitigate the damage — and reverse it — can be a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Just as climate change is undeniable, so is the proliferation of jobs to address it. Take environmental engineering and urban planning, two types of positions experiencing particularly high demand as cities and countries scramble to find ways to protect citizens and improve infrastructure.
Other jobs predicted to see growth include environmental science and protection technicians, environmental data analysts, and environmental emergency planners, according to Unity Environmental University in the U.S (which also markets degrees to meet the demand for these new roles.)
Even non-scientists are needed to meet the new demands, including those in fields like communications, graphic design and sales. Those skills are valuable in private industry, nonprofits and government. The City of Santa Monica, for example, worked with several government agencies to commission a report for a five-year plan to prevent beach erosion; this meant hiring five study authors and a nonprofit to do the work. If your current job in comms is growing stale, consider pivoting to supporting an organization fighting climate change. Because climate change impacts poor nations the most, jobs addressing it can be a great opportunity to support vulnerable communities, which could be a meaningful change from a high-pressure corporate role in, say, New York or London.
The imperatives around climate change have given rise to a newish corporate job you might consider: ESG controller. An increasing number of large and mid-size firms are reporting on their sustainability initiatives. Some 93% of Russell 1000 companies published a sustainability report in 2023. This was an increase over the year before, and there was the most growth among the smaller firms, as the Governance and Accountability Institute (GSA) reports here. Who is keeping track of all that reporting? The ESG controller. As this article on Forbes explains, “a growing percentage of large public companies, led by early-adopter Fortune 500 firms, have created an ESG controller position to oversee sustainability reporting and the information processes feeding that reporting.”
Even as experts bemoan the probable rollback of ESG and climate regulations under the incoming federal administration in the U.S., this won’t spell an end to new jobs. While U.S. companies may have less pressure from regulators to make good on climate goals, large multinational and domestic corporations still will have to meet requirements of the European Union and the State of California, as Andrew Coburn, CEO of the UK-based sustainability intelligence firm Risilience, told Thomson Reuters last month. This will “mean they still have to engage in stringent climate disclosures,” he said. Good news for anyone seeking work helping.
Older Folks = New Opportunities
As people are living longer, countries and companies are scrambling to adapt to the new demands this creates. (One key insight in the consumer goods arena: marketers should avoid using the word “old” to describe a new product, as this New York Times story about Nike’s CruzrOne sneaker, designed to cushion the feet of older walkers, explains.) By 2030, one in five people in the U.S. will be 65 or older. Nearly a half-million will likely reach 100 and beyond within 30 years, according to Pew Research Center. In Australia, the number of people over 65 has more than doubled since the early 1970s. As people are living longer, many are also living healthier, more active lives as older adults. In other words, that’s a lot of people needing extra-comfortable trainers.
Our aging population is creating more urgent needs for healthcare and social assistance/social service workers, an area that Jobs and Skills Australia cites as the largest growth industry. Take “NDIS coordinator,” a person who helps Australians understand and use the National Disability Health Scheme. Job listings for NDIS coordinators doubled between 2018 and 2022. Other hot healthcare-related jobs listed in the JAS report include doctors and nurses focused on palliative care, social workers and other mental health professionals focused on community mental health and aging-related mental health support, clinical researchers and clinical trial coordinators, health informatician, home support assessor, and genetic counselor. In the U.S., the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living forecasts a need for some 6 million more elder care workers by 2050, including nurses, nurse aides, home health aides, and personal care workers.
Aspiring career changers who don’t work in healthcare are also finding new roles serving older adults, or creating them. After her father-in-law was diagnosed with dementia, former tech worker Alison Harrington saw first-hand some of the challenges caregivers and older adults face. He was deteriorating rapidly, but as she discovered, he “came alive” when listening to his favorite old song. This realization led her to create a company bringing personalized music, videos and podcasts to older folks, using silent disco technology — and tapping her tech background. As she writes on the website of Resparke, the company founded and now leads, “We have now trained thousands of staff and supported hundreds of homes across Australia and NZ. We know from the many stories that most importantly, thousands of residents have experienced exactly the same moment I shared with my father-in-law over 8 years ago.”
Growth in other non-healthcare jobs may be surprising. The number of job listings for musical therapists in Australia, for example, grew nearly fourfold in the five years between 2018 and 2022. This is a role in which, as ABC news puts it, you will “plan and deliver music therapy interventions to improve physical, psychological, cognitive, or behavioural skills and function.” Helping older adults stay healthy and engaged also calls for activity coordinators, arts and culture programmers, home modification professionals — even suppliers of age-friendly goods.