Sometimes we find ourselves asking ‘which jobs will still exist in the future?’ No one can predict the future, of course. However, the UKCES (the UK Commission for Employment and Skills) produced a ‘Working Futures report’ which predicts which industries will continue to expand, as well as which industries are expected to decline. This article will look at those industries expected to grow.
Management
It is predicted that around 2 million jobs could be created by 2020 for managers, professionals and associate professionals. These higher skilled jobs are in demand and with businesses constantly growing and developing; those workers with advanced skills and higher qualifications are expected to continue to be in demand. Of course, this is all very well for an experienced manager or professional but what about those looking for entry level positions? Well, the report predicts a further 100,000 jobs to be created at entry level, so they are also expecting expansion there.
Catering
Everything from bar work to chef, the catering industry is expected to be in demand. These include positions such as waiting staff and kitchen assistant and go right up to restaurant manager. This category also includes housekeepers, so is not just limited to public bars or restaurants.
Social Services
Childminders, carers, psychologists and social workers. This category includes a wide variety of different people-skills based roles. These include roles in foster care and community transport. These jobs can be great career ladders to climb and a great way to get back into work. Social work is a growing industry as we will always need people to protect and take care of us.
Sport, Leisure and Tourism
Another very broad category, some in this category will be obvious such as those working in hotels, teaching or coaching sports and those working in events or airline travel. However it also includes bookmakers, cinema workers and playworkers. We will always want to be able to enjoy our leisure time whether it’s going on holiday or playing sports or going to see a movie, so we will always need these employees to run these services for us.
Transport
It goes without saying that in a world where we are more and more in contact with the rest of the world and more services than ever are being offered to us from overseas, we will need someone to transport ourselves or these services from A to B. This category includes those who deliver our groceries, taxi drivers, train and tube drivers and pilots among many others. Until we have a ‘one size fits all’ form of transportation that can move us thousands of miles or to the other side of town, we will need transport workers to do these jobs for us.
Storage, dispatch and delivery
This is similar to the last category but more focused on services such as food delivery, postal services and removals. Sometimes, you just don’t have time to go to the supermarket and need to have your food delivered to your home. Or maybe you have an old sofa you need to pay someone to come and take away because your car isn’t big enough. Or maybe, you just don’t like the idea of having to collect your post from a post office every day. Whatever the reason, we will continue to need these services for years to come because they make our lives more convenient and give us the time to focus on our own work.
Retail
Retail is a hugely important part of our society and economy. We need to have shops so that we can purchase goods, so we need people to look after those goods and provide us the service of selling them to us. Some might argue that these jobs are being phased out by self-checkout machines but there are many people who still enjoy the interaction with a human being when they go to the local corner shop. This category doesn’t just include retail stores, either. It also includes museum assistants, pet shop assistants, butchers, cake decorators and many other services that we all use from time to time. So while it might surprise you to hear that retail is actually predicted to become more in demand in the next 4 years, it’s still very much a valuable career path.
There are many jobs that will exist in the next 20 years that don’t exist even now, however there are some services and goods that we will still need workers for in the coming years. Which jobs do you think will still exist by 2020? Is there an industry you expect to see grow? Why not comment on our Facebook page or tweet us and let us know?
