New report: 18 occupations with the most job growth

Michael Timmermann | November 1st, 2018

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If you’re considering a career change in 2018, there are plenty of opportunities in the health care, education and hospitality industries right now, according to a new CareerBuilder report.

This new study looked at occupations with the most job growth since the recession hit more than 10 years ago.

These occupations have grown the most since the recession

According to the report, the country overall had 6,692,837 more jobs in 2017 than it did in 2007, but some career fields have fared considerably better than others since the recession.

Here are the occupations with some of the highest 2007-2017 growth rates nationally:

Registered nurses: 397,315 more jobs ‘ 16% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Waiters and waitresses: 328,431 more jobs ‘ 14% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Home health aides: 296,952 more jobs ‘ 46% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Nursing assistants: 163,770 more jobs ‘ 12% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Postsecondary teachers: 151,047 more jobs ‘ 11% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers: 110,037 more jobs ‘ 9% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Medical secretaries: 95,649 more jobs ‘ 20% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Web developers: 47,073 more jobs ‘ 38% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Veterinary technologists and technicians: 25,033 more jobs ‘ 32% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Genetic counselors: 709 more jobs ‘ 31% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Health technologists and technicians, all other: 30,583 more jobs ‘ 30% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Hearing aid specialists: 1,582 more jobs ‘ 28% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Operations research analysts: 24,742 more jobs ‘ 27% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Mental health counselors: 34,996 more jobs ‘ 27% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Athletic trainers: 5,438 more jobs ‘ 26% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Healthcare social workers: 35,980 more jobs ‘ 26% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Meeting, convention, and event planners: 22,601 more jobs ‘ 24% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007
Computer systems analysts: 106,992 more jobs ‘ 22% ‘ in 2017 than in 2007

More details

CareerBuilder also reported that seven states haven’t fully recovered from the recession and had fewer jobs in 2017 compared to 2007. Those states were Alabama, West Virginia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Connecticut, Wyoming and Illinois.

However, even in those states, there was job growth in the 18 career fields that made CareerBuilder’s list.

On the other hand, 14 states have outpaced the overall national job growth rate. The seven states with the largest net increase in jobs since 2007 are Texas, California, New York, Florida, Washington, Colorado and Massachusetts.

“While we have been seeing job growth in nearly every state since the recession ended, some states have recovered faster than others. Still, even in areas where job growth has lagged, there are occupations and industries that are growing,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “Companies looking to hire in those regions should expand their search to workers with transferable skills in other, less recovered local industries. There are competitive advantages to be had by tapping new talent pools and investing in reskilling and training workers.”

This study was based on data from Emsi, CareerBuilder’s labor market analysis arm.

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