Is the Great Resignation here to stay? If the dramatic numbers of Adzuna’s recent analysis are any indication, the seismic shifts in employment during the past several years aren’t settling down any time soon.
In December 2022, Adzuna had 9.2 million US job vacancies advertised on Adzuna.com. In November 2021, the site reported 8.7 million advertised vacancies. In a year-over-year comparison, Adzuna’s research team broke down the data by job title to analyze over 4,000 job titles.
What they uncovered are the top 90 job roles currently seeing the biggest increase in demand, vacancies, and average advertised salaries. So what are the best opportunities for someone looking to break into a new field?
Top 30 jobs with the fastest-rising salaries
Loan Officer leads the way with the highest average increase in pay—102%, to be exact. Second place goes to the Delivery Driver job title, which has seen an average pay increase of 84%. Mental Health Social Worker salaries have grown by 80%, Site Manager roles are now paying 64% more than the previous year and English Tutor salaries have increased by 57%.
Here’s the full breakdown:
The top 30 most in-demand jobs
With the new “tripledemic” and the burnout in the medical field after three years of relentless challenges, it’s hardly surprising that the role of Nurse heads the top 30 list for most in-demand jobs. What is surprising is how the average advertised salary for this role has dropped 10% since 2021. If demand for these medical professionals remains high, as it’s expected to do, the salary offerings will need to keep pace.
Delivery Drivers again take second place, with 222,369 open positions with this job title in 2022. Sales Support Assistant, Customer Service Representative, and Delivery Trucker round out the top five roles with the biggest vacancies.
The top 30 jobs with the biggest leap in demand
When it comes to the roles with the largest growth in demand, the analysis revealed some surprises. Advertised vacancies for Kitchen Porter led the pack with a 6,278% increase in demand over 2021. Territory Sales Executive came in second, leaping from 100 job listings in 2021 to 3,748 in 2022—an increase of 3,648%.
Flight Attendant is another role in extremely high demand, with a 3,220% increase in 2022 compared to the previous year. Payroll Consultants and ICU Nurses also made the top five, with respective increases of 557% and 508%.
Balancing passion and paycheck
While salary and demand are big factors in a person’s choice of career, they aren’t the only things to consider. The dramatic changes seen in this year-over-year comparison only underscore the fact that today, almost everything in the job market is fluid. As market conditions continue to change, the job titles that headlined the lists this year may not even make a showing on next year’s analysis.
Pursuing a job that isn’t a good fit, simply because it’s easy to land or comes with a hefty paycheck, can quickly lead to frustration. While simply “following your heart” by itself isn’t the best career advice, job seekers should consider the paycheck as well as the passion they feel for a particular field.
Finding the right intersection of passion and paycheck is key to long-term job satisfaction—no matter what the job market does in 2023.