The Most In-Demand Jobs Right Now
March 15, 2021
Although we’re almost a week away from the first day of spring, new LinkedIn data could have you thinking that we’re already in the dog days of summer. Animal groomer has jumped onto our latest list of the most in-demand jobs and has taken the top spot among fastest-growing roles in February.
This is good news for Fido and Fluffy’s matted coats, as well as a pet industry that had seen some signs of struggling last year. Pandemic restrictions and shutdowns had closed or slowed business at many smaller mom-and-pop pet stores, and pet owners who were asked to work from home suddenly had less need to hire walkers, groomers, and daycare providers.
With vaccine distribution ramping up around the globe, our data is also showing a significant spike in pharmacy technicians, or as The Wall Street Journal reported, a “hiring frenzy for pharmacists.”
And we’re continuing to see strong demand in web development and engineering roles related to companies’ digital transformation initiatives, as businesses adopt policies that will keep employees working remotely and customers spending their paychecks online well beyond the end of the pandemic.
Read on for the full lists of the most in-demand jobs and the jobs with the fastest month-over-month growth. This post is updated monthly to help talent leaders and recruiters make hiring decisions, manage expectations, and better understand the competitive talent landscape.
Vaccine distribution and furry pets are behind the fastest-growing roles
Although remote positions continue to be in high demand, we’re seeing plenty of growth in customer-facing and in-person jobs, including roles in retail and pharmaceuticals.
Cashier and retail sales positions are likely growing due to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, while pharmacy technicians are increasingly sought after in the U.S. In fact, vaccine distribution efforts by industry giants like CVS and Rite-Aid have created a bidding war for talent, with The New York Times reporting that Walgreens alone is looking to hire 9,000 pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and nurses.
Jobs with the fastest-growing demand
Roles with largest month-over-month increase in LinkedIn job posts (January 2021 to February 2021)
- Animal groomer
- Pharmacy technician
- Retail salesperson
- Warehouse associate
- Cashier
- Security engineer
- User interface designer
- Data architect
- Software engineering manager
- Service associate
Last spring, you likely had to look no further than your social media feed for adorable images of puppies, kittens, and other furry additions to friends’ and coworkers’ homes. Shelters and animal rescue organizations couldn’t keep up with adoption demands and breeders had to turn people away.
Now almost a year later, it looks like those canines and felines need a haircut. Animal groomer is the role in which we’re seeing the fastest-growing demand, as companies like Petco see explosive growth in their services and products due to the 3.3 million pets added to U.S. households in 2020. “People are home for COVID,” says Petco CEO Ron Coughlin, “they’re a little depressed, and they want that bundle of joy.”
Tech roles that support digital transformation initiatives continue to be in high demand
With four of the 10 jobs on our list below, tech roles in engineering and web development continue to be in strong demand.
Jobs with the most demand overall
Roles with the most LinkedIn job posts (February 2021)
- Software engineer
- Registered nurse
- Salesperson
- Project manager
- Food delivery driver
- Full stack engineer
- Animal groomer
- Javascript developer
- DevOps engineer
- Account manager
Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics backs up this demand, reporting an unemployment rate of just 2.4% in February for computer and mathematical occupations, well below the overall rate of 6.6%. These strong numbers are partially due to the fact that many of these roles can be performed remotely without skipping a beat — or missing a line of code.
Digital transformation initiatives are also driving the need for these roles. A McKinsey & Company survey of global executives published last fall suggests that companies are investing in all-things digital at a rapid clip due to the pandemic, including a shift toward meeting more customers online, an increase in developing digital products (as opposed to physical ones), and an investment in tools to make remote work easier for employees.
These initiatives and investments will likely be keeping tech recruiters busy for much of the year. “The one constant,” writes David Moise, CEO of Decide Consulting, in an article for Forbes, “is that whenever C-suite executives start saying ‘digital transformation,’ that translates to bringing in software developers, cloud engineers, scrum masters, QA/QC, and all the other associated roles.”
Final thoughts
With the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a pandemic now behind us, it’s reassuring to see glimmers of resilience and hope behind the top two fastest-growing jobs. Animals helped us get through the last year, and here’s hoping vaccine distribution efforts will allow us to meet our friends’ and coworkers’ pets on-leash rather than online.
Methodology
Based on global LinkedIn data on all premium job posts in January 2021 and February 2021. The most in-demand jobs are those with the highest number of job posts. The jobs with the fastest-growing demand are those with the biggest percentage growth in the number of job posts, from January 2021 to February 2021; jobs with fewer than 1,000 job posts in January 2021 were excluded from this analysis. Note: In February 2021, LinkedIn began offering free job posts to assist with vaccine distribution, which may have increased job posts for certain roles.
To receive blog posts like this one straight in your inbox, subscribe to the blog newsletter.
