It has been a journey, folks. But we’ve arrived at a job market so scorching it could take on a sizzling fajita platter. The number of job openings in the U.S. reached record peaks in late 2021, the highest levels to the tune of millions in at least two decades, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
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“It’s no secret that we are in a hot job market,” says Andrew Hunter, cofounder of the job search engine Adzuna, which aggregates postings from other sites. A report Adzuna released in January 2022 echoes the BLS data: The site logged more than 8.7 million vacancies in November 2021, more than double the number it saw at the beginning of the same year.
“In January 2021, employers cautiously navigated hiring needs, but by November employers had turned the taps on and were looking to take on a flood of new staff. The vaccine rollout has boosted confidence, businesses are growing, and after reevaluating their work-life goals many Americans are switching jobs,” Hunter says, describing what for months we’ve all been calling “the Great Resignation” (or “the Great Reshuffle” or one of many nicknames this wave of quits has racked up). “Now employees and job seekers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to looking for a job.”
All that’s to say that you have options. But some kinds of jobs are particularly in demand. Adzuna’s report also compared the number of vacancies by role in January and November 2021 found that some job titles saw especially dizzying growth—from warehouse workers and delivery drivers companies need to fulfill all those online orders to the recruiters that make all the other hiring possible. While the report looks back at 2021, it’s perhaps a harbinger of what 2022 might bring.
Below are the roles that saw the biggest increases in demand. You can click on each job title to search for the latest job postings on The Muse—where you can also filter your search further by perks and benefits (e.g., mentor programs, unlimited vacation, or paternity leave), leadership attributes (e.g., Black or female founded/led), company size, remote/flexible opportunities, and more to find the gig that’s right for you. Because it’s a job seeker’s market, and it’s your turn to call the shots.
1.Recruitment consultant (332.12% increase)
Companies desperately need help filling all their other open seats, so it’s no surprise that folks working in talent acquisition—whose job it is to recruit and hire everyone else—are in high demand.
Read more:
- The Everything Guide to Working as an HR Manager
- Here’s How to Write Your Own Resume as an HR Professional (Plus an Example!)
- 7 Signs Human Resources Could Be the Perfect Career for You
Find recruitment consultant and other recruiterjobs on The Muse
2. Customer service associate (285.65% increase)
Customer service professionals help organizations liaise with the people buying and using their products and services, from processing orders to handling complaints. And we know customers haven’t necessarily been on their best behavior through the pandemic era…
Read more:
- How to Write a Customer Service Resume That Will Catch a Recruiter’s Eye (Example Included!)
- 9 Common Customer Service Job Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
Find customer service associate and other customer service jobs on The Muse
3.Full-stack developer (141.39% increase)
Software developers have long been in demand, and the BLS projects that jobs will grow 22% between 2020 and 2030 (that’s nearly three times the average of 8% for all occupations). On top of that, burnout has run rampant among software developers during the pandemic and resignations rates in tech outpaced even those in healthcare.
Read more:
- Everything You Need to Know About Being (and Becoming) a Software Engineer
- 5 Rules for Writing a Software Engineer Resume That Will Get You Hired (Plus Example)
- Full-Stack Developers, Here’s How to Ace Your Technical Interview
- And lots more advice for software engineers…
Find full-stack developer and other developer jobs on The Muse
4. Project manager (135.08% increase)
Project managers help teams get things done on time and within budget, whatever those “things” may be (launching a new initiative, delivering services, etc.). Organizations across industries—from e-commerce to finance to construction—need PMs in order to achieve their goals.
Read more:
- Your Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Great Project Manager Resume (With an Example)
- 7 Project Manager Interview Questions and How to Answer Them (With Examples!)
- 3 Rules That Will Make Anyone a Better Project Manager
Find project manager jobs on The Muse
5.Medical administrative assistant (131.74% increase)
Like project managers, administrative assistants—who take on a huge range of tasks from scheduling to research to help keep teams and offices running—are needed at every type of organization and in every industry. At a time when medical facilities are under pressure, and resignations in healthcare are high, it’s hardly a shock that medical admins in particular are in high demand.
Read more:
- Applying for an Administrative Assistant Job? Here's How to Write Your Resume (Example Included)
- Ace Your Administrative Assistant Interview by Learning How to Answer These 10 Questions
- Looking for an Admin or “Office” Job? Here Are 10 Types (and 100+ Roles) to Check Out
Find medical administrative assistant and other administrative assistant jobs on The Muse
6. Accountant (128.04% increase)
The Ben Wyatts (or should we say “Butch Count-sidy”s?) are in demand—and not just in Parks and Recreation’s fictional city of Pawnee. In a nutshell, accountants are responsible for preparing and examining financial records and can work for an accounting firm to serve different clients, for a startup or corporation, for the government, and more.
Read more:
- An Accountant’s Guide to Writing the Perfect Resume (Plus an Example!)
- 10 Questions You’ll Get in Your Next Accounting Interview—and How to Answer Them
Find accountant jobs on The Muse
7. Data scientist (116.32% increase)
Organizations are generating more data than they know what to do with these days, so they’re looking for the folks who can help them make sense of it all. As writer Natalie Morse, who’s a data scientist herself, puts it, folks in these roles “write code to model and answer business questions.” BLS projects employment for data scientists will grow a whopping 31% between 2020 and 2030. Oh and the average pay is $103,930.
Read more:
- Data Science Is a High-Paying, Fast-Growing Field—Here’s What You Need to Know About Entering It
- 7 Questions You Should Be Ready to Answer in Any Data Science Interview
- 7 Skills You Need to Succeed in Data Science (and How to Show Them Off in a Job Search)
- And lots more advice on careers in data and analytics…
Find data scientist and other data science jobs on The Muse
8. Product manager (100.33% increase)
Product managers help companies build and launch new products and features, working closely with engineers as well as other stakeholders. The “product” can be an app or piece of software, a consumer product, or even a proprietary tool or process a team uses.
Read more:
- How to Write a Product Manager Resume That Gets Results (Example Included!)
- The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Into Product Management—Fast
- The Top Skills You’ll Need to Succeed as a Product Manager
Find product manager jobs on The Muse
…and 22 other roles in demand for 2022
Looking for something else? Here are 22 additional roles that are booming for 2022:
- Warehouse worker (353.59% increase)
- Security guard (324.62% increase)
- Finance clerk (288.07% increase)
- Forklift operator (254.14% increase)
- Materials handler (235.10% increase)
- Receptionist (229.01% increase)
- General manager (225.37% increase)
- Cashier (221.97% increase)
- Physiotherapist (213.61% increase)
- Housekeeper (199.85% increase)
- Restaurant manager (195.75% increase)
- Assembly operative (170.87% increase)
- Machine operator (158.25% increase)
- Mechanic (154.73% increase)
- Sales support assistant (143.51% increase)
- Merchandiser (139.6% increase
- Business manager (129.30% increase)
- Technologist (127.88% increase)
- Delivery driver (117.08% increase)
- Cook (117.03% increase)
- Architect (113.55% increase)
- Engineer (108.55% increase)
