Where to find jobs in 2020

In addition to marking a time of renewal, New Year kicks off one of the busiest job-hunting seasons. People looking for a fresh start and those who paused their job searches over the holidays are on the lookout for the next steps in their careers.

Before we dive into a fresh slate of job search topics in 2020, I want to tell you about a recent report that uses LinkedIn data to identify the country’s fastest-growing jobs and where they’re located. Emerging Jobs, as the report is called, is based on an analysis of LinkedIn members with public profiles that have held full-time positions within the country during the past five years.

Where are the jobs?

While remote working may not be the norm yet, it’s popular enough to create opportunities in some medium-sized U.S. cities, including Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Pittsburgh, Portland and Charlotte. Why the push toward mid-sized cities? People can work for larger companies located in big cities while enjoying a lower cost of living.

In addition to creating opportunities in smaller cities, remote work is a trend across the country. Large employers, such as CVS Health and American Express, are all offering positions that can be done remotely. The number of remote jobs is likely to grow as it becomes a priority in the workforce. Research shows that 40% of millennials, who make up the largest portion of the workforce, say the ability to work remotely is a priority for them when evaluating job opportunities, according to the report.

Major metropolitan areas are still drawing workers, though. Washington, D.C. and its surrounding areas are building their tech workforce, for example. People with tech talent in cybersecurity, data science and artificial intelligence are finding work near the nation’s capital.

Booming professions and industries

Tech may be bringing talent to D.C., but it’s also driving some of the biggest job trends across the country. The report shows that more than half of the positions it identified as “emerging jobs” are related to engineering or development, such as cloud engineers and back end developers.

The influence of technology is reaching other industries, too. People who work in artificial intelligence and robotics are finding jobs at car companies as the automotive industry works to build and perfect self-driving vehicles, for example.

The tech industry is also supporting jobs outside the world of engineering and development. Customer success specialists and sales development representatives are among the emerging jobs in the report. While those roles’ selling points are so-called soft skills, they made the list due — in part — to hiring in the tech industry.

Tech isn’t behind the growth of all professions on the list, however. Behavioral health technicians are in demand thanks to expanding coverage for mental health care and substance abuse treatment. These workers typically work with children who are on the autism spectrum or have behavioral disorders.

What didn’t make the cut?

Any person who has been in the workforce long enough knows that in-demand positions don’t stay in vogue forever. A look back at past Emerging Jobs reports shows even the most promising professions can have short shelf lives.

Blockchain developers were the top emerging job of 2018, being snatched up in big metropolitan areas and by employers like IBM, ConsenSys and Chainyard. So, what happened? Devin Banerjee, my colleague in San Francisco, started a conversation about the profession’s trajectory with LinkedIn members. Here’s what they’re saying.

You can read the full U.S. report here. 

If you’re interested in finding out about job trends outside the U.S., you can also look at reports for nearly a dozen countries here. While you may see common themes on some of the reports, they’re all unique. While they didn’t make it on to the U.S. list, data consultants and experienced engineers made Canada’s list, for example.

Where are you planning to look for work in 2020? Join the conversation.

? The follow-up:

The final #GetHired of 2019 looked back at some of the most popular topics from the past year. Which editions resonated with you the most? Ageism was high on the list. A look at the applicant tracking systems that help employers keep track of job seekers was popular, too. Also, you wanted to know more about the role of recruiters. Here’s what people are saying about those topics and the job search trends of 2019.

? Other news to help you #GetHired:

Smoker, vapers and other nicotine users need not apply to U-Haul. The Arizona-based moving and storage franchise company is the latest employer to say it will no longer hire people who use nicotine. The company said it will stop hiring people who use the addictive chemical in the 21 states where it is legally allowed to refuse people jobs based on nicotine use. Starting Feb. 1, job applicants will be told about the new policy and — depending on the state — will have to consent to nicotine testing. Other employers have implemented similar policies as health care costs continue to increase. The city of Dayton, Ohio, implemented a similar policy in July, for example. Here’s what people are saying about the trend.

Is wage growth data exaggerating the labor market’s health? Wage growth for the lowest-earning Americans is outpacing that the top earners by the widest margin in 20 years. One reason could be laws passed by states and localities to increase their minimum wages, writes one economist in The Upshot. Those increases have pushed the effective minimum wage in the U.S. to nearly $12 per hour while the actual federal baseline has remained at $7.25 since 2009. Since economists look at wage growth as a measure of the economy’s health, Evercore ISI’s Ernie Tedeschi says it could influence policymakers to act to prevent it from overheating. Here’s what people are saying about his warning.

Speaking of the health of the economy: more jobs were cut in 2019 than most other years during the past decade. Employers announced 592,556 job cuts for 2019 — a 10% increase over the previous year, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. The Chicago-based staffing firm puts 2019 just behind 2015 and 2011 as the year with the most cuts. Those two years each saw about 600,000 jobs eliminated, reports Bloomberg. On the bright side, firings fell in December — by 26% from November and 25% from a year earlier. Here’s what people are saying about the numbers.

? Up next:

You’ve likely heard many of the experts featured in #GetHired discuss the importance of networking. Most agree that you need a combination of skills and a network to land the best jobs. Is that network possible to build while job searching? We’ll take a look in the next edition. 

? I want to hear (and see) your questions:

#GetHiredLive is returning later this month! As part of our new format, we want you to submit questions to be answered by job search experts. Job seekers, share your questions in a video posted on your profile with the hashtag #GetHiredLive. You may see them get answered during the first episode. Need help posting a video on your profile? Click here. 

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out to me if you have ideas on topics or questions I should address in future editions of #GetHired. You can also email me at GetHired[at]LinkedIn.com.