The United States began as an agriculture-based economy, became a manufacturing juggernaut and, by the 1980s, completed its transformation into a post-industrial economy, where services, information and research reign supreme. Today, about 79 percent of the workforce is employed in services alone, up from 77 percent in 2008.
To stay relevant, workers need to get ahead of the curve. This means taking classes that train you in the latest skills, and updating your resume with your qualifications and most impressive accomplishments.
We've reviewed the latest research on job skills and employment sectors to see how the economy is changing as we enter the third decade of the 21st century. Here are a few key takeaways from our research:
To enhance advancement opportunities, employees have consistently put continued learning at the top of their wish lists. Employers are starting to take note …
Companies spent $83 billion on training in 2019, up from $55.8 billion in 2012 but slightly down from a peak of $93.6 in 2017. Training Magazine
Since 1980, jobs requiring stronger social skills, such as communication and management ability, have increased by 83 percent, and jobs requiring high levels of analytical skills increased by 77 percent. In comparison, during that same time, jobs requiring physical labor have seen little change in numbers. (Pew Research Center)
By 2030, workers will spend 60 percent more hours on jobs that require technology skills than they did in 2016.
Meanwhile, people will work 26 percent more hours on jobs that require social and emotional skills. In contrast, jobs that only require physical and manual labor skills will see 11 percent fewer hours. (International Labour Organization)
The vast majority of workers (87 percent) see ongoing training as important to finding success in their careers. (Pew Research Center)
About seven out of ten people (72 percent) say "a lot" of responsibility falls on individuals to get the right skills and education. (Pew Research Center)
Slightly more than half of leaders (57 percent) say soft skills are more important than hard skills. (LinkedIn)
The most in-demand soft skills are:
The most in-demand hard skills are:
The skills gap costs U.S. companies more than $13 billion a month, or about $160 billion a year. (Centre for Economic Research)
An increasing number of employers (68 percent) say they have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates, a fact consistent across companies of all sizes. (CareerBuilder)
Nearly 80 percent of Americans say there's a skills gap and more than a third of them (35 percent) say it affects them personally. (Udemy)
Here's how business owners say they're most affected by the skills gap:
About six out of every ten businesses (63 percent) are actively looking for candidates who demonstrate their ability to use, work with and analyze data. (IBM Report)
Job seekers who understand data and analytics will account for one-third of the job market by 2020, with a projected increase of 110,000 positions. (IBM Report)
Data analyst roles are the hardest to fill in the entire market, typically staying open for 45 days. (IBM Report)
Fifty percent of companies don't provide data literacy training to their own employees. (IBM Report)
Yet 78 percent of business decision-makers say they would be willing to invest more time and energy into improving their data skill-sets. (Qlik)
A majority of employers (59 percent) say work/life experience is important in data literacy, while only 18 percent viewed a bachelor or master's degree in science, let alone data science, as a primary consideration. (Qlik)
Groups that say they're most likely to continue their education:
Percent that would apply for jobs where they do not meet the skill requirements:
As of December 2018, Glassdoor's jobs database had 1,512 openings in the cannabis industry, a 76 percent increase over the same period the previous year. (Glassdoor Economic Research)
The median salary for cannabis jobs was $58,511 per year, about 11 percent higher than the U.S. median salary. (Glassdoor Economic Research)
The majority of cannabis job openings (53 percent) are for professional and technical workers. (Glassdoor Economic Research)
In 2018, Glassdoor had 3,492 unique solar energy job openings, roughly the same number as January 2016. (Glassdoor Economic Research)
At $58,523 per year, solar energy jobs pay 12 percent more than the yearly U.S. median base pay.(Glassdoor Economic Research)
The stats above will help you make a game plan for finding a job in 2020. Read these articles in our 2020 employment stats series to learn more ways to stay ahead of the competition:
Don is a freelance writer with more than five years' experience in digital media. His work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Oprah.com, Yahoo! and HuffPost. While at OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, his creative use of archival content...
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