While nothing is cast in stone, with statistics from authoritative sources such as government agencies, you just can’t help but pay attention. According to the BLS, the fastest growing occupations in the US revolve around health services and renewable energy industries.
The top 20 professions projected to grow with professionals being in demand up until 2026 are dominated by health and medical practitioners. Although the energy industry takes pole position with Solar Photovoltaic installers topping the list, medical practitioners dominate a third of the list.
Below, we take a closer look at the reasons the two industries top the list.
Healthcare Industry Boom
The healthcare industry is a crucial one in the development and well-being of the citizenry of every country. That reason alone makes it one industry that is almost always in demand for more professionals. However, it has been one that has faced shortages for years on end.
Nearly all of the health professions with a shortage of personnel require higher education or training in either a medical school or a university. This has put the medical career path beyond the reach of many as it also requires intensive training that spans several years along with the high tuition or training fees that medical schools charge.
The result of the high cost of entering the field has subsequently being a shortage of health-care workers, effectively inflating the demand for medical professionals in the U.S. To add onto this, there is a rapidly aging baby boomer population in the U.S, which requires frequent medical care, thus spurring large growth in the industry.
Additionally, increasing costs of health care in the U.S has pushed many organizations to turn to lower-paid health professionals to take up tasks that were traditionally a reserve of fully fledged doctors. This has been in a bid to minimize expenditure, hence the growth in personal care aides, home health aides, physician assistants, and physical therapist assistants.
Renewable Energy Industry Growth
Over the past few years, the renewable energy industry has also seen tremendous growth, which has seen it top the list of the most in-demand professions for the next decade. The reason: decreasing costs of wind and solar prices.
Advances in solar/wind technology have decreased the cost of sustainable energy and U.S. companies have been at the forefront, trying to take advantage of this cost reduction. Government competitions pushing for domestic solar/wind manufacturing and the potential for cheap, clean energy offer an enticing win-win scenario for American corporations, and the drastically increased investment in the industry is clear proof of corporate interest.
Thus, it should not be a surprise that solar photovoltaic installers and wind turbine service technicians are the top two fastest-growing American occupations by percentage.
Below is a list of The top 10 fastest growing jobs in America in 2018 and their median pays:
1. Solar Photovoltaic Installers
Projected growth: 104.9%
Median Pay: $37,690
Education required: High School Diploma
2. Wind Turbine Service Technicians
Projected job growth: 96.3%
Median pay (2016): $53,880
Education required: Postsecondary training
3. Home health aides
Projected job growth: 47.3%
Median pay (2016): $23,210
Education required: High School diploma
4. Personal Care Aides
Projected job growth: 38.6%
Median pay (2016): $23,100
Education required: None
5. Physician Assistants
Projected job growth: 37.3%
Median pay (2016): $104,860
Education required: Master’s degree
6. Nurse Practitioners
Projected job growth: 36 percent
Median pay (2016): $103,880
Education required: Master’s degree
7. Statisticians
Projected job growth: 33.8%
Median pay (2016): $84,060
Education required: Master’s degree
8. Physical therapy Assistants
Projected job growth: 31%
Median pay (2016): $57,430
Education required: Associate degree
9. Software developers
Projected job growth: 30.7%
Median pay (2016): $101,790
Education required: Bachelor’s degree
10. Mathematicians
Projected job growth: 29.7%
Median pay (2016): $103,010
Education required: Bachelor’s degree
