Based on LinkedIn's ranking, some of the fastest-growing jobs in the US include chief growth officer, government program analyst, and environmental health safety manager. These rankings are determined based on job growth rates calculated from January 1, 2019, to July 31, 2023. The compound five-year growth rate for the top-ranked job, chief growth officer, was 41%. This rapid growth is seen as sustainable, indicating long-term job opportunities in these roles.
The list reflects a nice diversity of job opportunities suitable for individuals with various educational backgrounds and interests. According to Andrew Seaman, senior managing editor for jobs & career development at LinkedIn News, it's important for individuals aspiring to these roles to focus on developing the necessary skills. Employers are increasingly prioritizing skills over job titles, so job seekers need to assess their existing skills and work towards acquiring the skills required for these fast-growing roles.
The report also highlights the most common skills associated with each job title, derived from the top skills unique to each title among LinkedIn members who have held those positions. Additionally, the median years of prior experience for these roles have been calculated based on the years of work experience held before starting in the featured title for members hired within the methodology timeframe.
This job involves "the process of acquiring real estate or land" according to the new LinkedIn report. As this process can involve "strategic relationships with brokers," one of the most common skills for this job is contract negotiation per the new report. The new LinkedIn report noted that the median prior experience required for this job is almost six years.
This job was defined in the report as overseeing "the end-to-end process of grants programs, including identifying funding opportunities, managing budgets, and ensuring regulatory compliance." While LinkedIn noted that many grants program managers transitioned from being grants writers, program coordinator and project manager were also common previous roles. The report said the median prior experience for this role is around four years.
Physical therapists were one healthcare job among the top 15. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for this job is almost $100,000 — $97,720 — and is projected to see employment increase by 15% from where it stood in 2022 to 10 years later in 2032. LinkedIn noted 2.3 to 3.0 as the median years of prior experience.
This engineering role involves taking care of "potential vulnerabilities" for products or systems "through risk assessments, threat modeling and protective measures," per the new report. The median years of prior experience needed is 4.4 years according to LinkedIn. Software engineer, application security engineer, and cyber security engineer were noted as the top roles LinkedIn users transitioned into this job.
This communications role involves "an organization's strategic messaging to external audiences," per the LinkedIn report. The median years of prior experience noted in the report was 5.8 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public relations managers have a median pay of $129,430, and a bachelor's degree was noted as the typical education needed.
While artificial intelligence is already playing a role in the labor force, such as with people finding ways to be productive with the help of AI tools, artificial intelligence engineer was one job on the list that specifically involves AI duties. Around three years of prior experience is typically needed, per the median years noted in the LinkedIn report. The most common skills this job can involve are machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing.
"We're seeing how AI is emerging and eventually it's just going to seep into all these other job titles," Seaman said.
The median years of prior experience noted for this job in the report was 3.0 years to 3.9 years. Staffing and recruiting were one of the most common industries for this role, along with IT services and IT consulting as well as business consulting and services.
"Without talent acquisition professionals, these other jobs wouldn't get filled most of the time," Seaman said. "So that's why they're so high on the list and important to the whole process."
People in this job "advise organizations on the implementation of AI technologies in their business operations and product offerings," per the report. The median experience required for this job was about four years. The same most common skills for artificial intelligence engineers at No. 10 were noted for this AI job: machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing.
Community outreach was one of the most common skills noted in the report for this role. The median prior experience noted in the report for this job was 4.3 years to 5.4 years. Professor was one of the top roles transitioned from that was noted in the report. Diversity and inclusion specialist was another one listed as a main role transitioned from.
The most common skills needed for this job noted in the report were all healthcare-related: electronic medical records, advanced cardiac life support, and basic life support. The median years of prior experience for this healthcare job is 2.5 years to 4.9 years per the report. Many advanced practice providers were previously intensive care nurses.
The project manager was one job noted in the report as a top previous role for sustainability analysts, and data analysis was one of the most common skills noted. The median prior experience for this role is 2.6 years per the new report.
Seaman said this role is one of the jobs that can be considered "mission-driven jobs, which are people who they're fulfilling a mission that is really beneficial to probably most people."
Sales operations is one of the most common skills noted for this job. People who work in a sales role may have some transferable skills for this job. The sales director was one job noted as a top role transitioned from.
A director of revenue operations typically needs more than five years of prior experience. The median noted in the report is 6.7 years to 7.3 years.
This kind of manager's job involves making sure employers are "fostering a safe and sustainable workplace for employees, managing risk and ensuring compliance to health, safety and environmental regulations" per the report. This job could need several years of prior experience; the report noted a median of 6.3 years. Jobs for this kind of work can commonly be found in Atlanta, Houston, and Boston, as these three places were noted as where the most jobs are for this role.
This analyst job focused on government programs needs about four years of prior experience per the new report. Two different types of analyst jobs — service analyst and licensing analyst — were noted as top roles transitioned from, alongside office technician. While analytical skills could be needed for the job, the report noted community outreach as one of the most common skills.
"Chief growth officers develop and execute an organization's strategies for driving revenue, expanding market presence, and ensuring sustainable growth," the new report stated.
Business development is one of the most common skills noted in the report for this job, and the position typically needs a few years of experience. The new report noted the median prior experience required as 4.2 years to 6.5 years.
Seaman said the chief growth officer and director of revenue operations both making the list suggests companies are continuing to want to grow and know they should be smart about it — by hiring people for roles where this is their job function.
Tech companies are increasingly announcing layoffs and hiring freezes as they shift their focus toward artificial intelligence (AI). This trend may not necessarily be about replacing workers with AI, but rather about reassigning resources to invest in a smaller number of highly skilled AI experts. Google, Salesforce, Duolingo, and others have recently carried out layoffs or freezes, with Google specifically emphasizing a renewed dedication to AI. Industry experts speculate that these actions may be aimed at redirecting funds towards larger salaries for proficient AI engineers. While some see this as a genuine shift in investment, others view it as a means of managing the public relations aspect of layoffs. Additionally, the move towards AI may lead to displacement of white-collar workers in roles such as software developers and database administrators. The rise in demand for AI skills is evident in the job market, with postings for positions requiring specialized AI skills representing over 10% of all tech job postings. However, the supply of individuals with the required AI expertise remains limited, resulting in high salaries for those who possess such capabilities. Nevertheless, the landscape of AI salaries is expected to change as automation becomes more prevalent, particularly with tools like Github Copilot. Despite the increasing demand for AI talent, the number of new hires in this field does not match the scale of recent layoffs, and the new positions are concentrated in select tech hubs. Moreover, the growing capabilities of large language models pose substantial risks for software engineering jobs, potentially leading to significant changes in work tasks.